Romania during the Second World War. Romanian losses in World War II Romanian War

The reader is offered excerpts from the memoirs of Manole Zamfir, recorded by his friend.

Today Sergeant Manola Zamfir is 86 years old and lives alone in the village of Sinesti, 25 kilometers from Bucharest. He is called "Uncle Manole"; Few people know that he is a veteran of World War II. His wife recently died at an old age. His son, who is almost60, lives in Bucharest. Uncle Manole owns an old adobe three-room house, a goat and a plot of land with an area of ​​2000 square meters. On this piece of land he grew the most beautiful garden in the entire village, and lives from its fruits–vegetables and grapes, which he cultivates himself. Many young peasants come to him for advice on crop production. My summer house is located near his garden; we have known each other for 10 years. I wrote down his story because I believe that such a person deserves not to be forgotten.

On February 15, 1941, soldier Manole Zamfir began his studies at the military school named after Petru Rares near the town of Cernavody. After graduating from school, he was enlisted in the engineer company of the 36th regiment of the 9th Infantry Division (battalion commander - Major Secarianu, regiment commander - Colonel Vatasescu, division commander - General Panaiti).

On September 1, 1942, his unit was sent to the Don sector of the Eastern Front. The unit's fighters were taken by train to the station in Stalino, and then they marched for 6 weeks to the front line. At the time of their arrival, the situation on this section of the front was calm, and they were given the task of building fortifications and winter shelters.

The first serious attack by Soviet troops on their positions began on November 9, 1942. It was unsuccessful, and units of the Red Army suffered heavy losses. This attack was followed by a month of heavy fighting, with attacks from both sides, with neither side making any significant progress. It was a senseless slaughter in which both sides suffered heavy casualties.

During attacks led by Soviet officers, Red Army soldiers shouted (in Romanian): “Brothers, why are you killing us? Antonescu and Stalin drink vodka together, and we kill each other for nothing!”

Romanian soldiers were sent into frontal infantry attacks, which were preceded by artillery shelling of enemy positions. On the one hand, Romanian artillery had little effect on the enemy’s strengths, since the guns were small in caliber and the shots were not accurate. Our other weakness was the obsolescence of our weapons. Most of the soldiers were armed with ZB rifles with bayonets. There were only two machine guns and one Brandt cannon per company, and 1-2 machine guns per platoon. This led to huge losses, sometimes up to 90% of personnel. During this period, Manola Zamfir was awarded the rank of sergeant, both for bravery and to compensate for losses among the sergeants.

He recalls that after one of the unsuccessful attacks, only 7 soldiers from the entire company survived, including himself. Young officers from the command of the sapper company died so often that Sergeant Zamfir did not even have time to find out their names. During attacks they were in front, so they were often killed first.

After several battles, Romanian soldiers began to use captured weapons and equipment. Sergeant Zamfir took a Beretta assault rifle as his main weapon. As for anti-tank weapons, the situation was even worse. Grenades were ineffective against tanks, and there were no mines or special anti-tank weapons. Molotov cocktails were used quite successfully. When the tank caught fire, the crew surrendered. But there were few tanks on this sector of the front, and Soviet commanders rarely used them to support infantry attacks. They kept tanks behind their infantry for a kind of artillery support, rather useless. And Romanian sappers used tanks mainly in cases where they moved forward during attacks.

Most of the fighting was the usual World War II type - infantry attacks with hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. In one of these battles, Sergeant Zamfir stabbed a Soviet soldier with a bayonet. Before his death, this soldier told him in Romanian that he had five children at home. To this day, Uncle Manole regrets that incident, although he knows that he had no choice.

Another striking event on that section of the front was the order received from the German high command to kill all Soviet prisoners. This was unacceptable for Romanian officers, so Romanian soldiers who released Soviet prisoners, taking their weapons and equipment, were not punished. Many times, after successful attacks by Romanian units, those captured by them ran across the “no man's land”, while the Romanian officers “looked the other way.” Sergeant Zamfir remembers an incident in which his platoon captured four female officers (these were supply officers caught on the front line). The company commander ordered him to take them behind dense bushes and shoot them there. In these bushes, Manole asked the women if they spoke Romanian. To his surprise, they all knew Romanian, since they were Moldovans. And he told them: “Now you know where the positions of your troops are. I will shoot into the ground, I hope I never see you here again. Women were created to be mothers, not soldiers!” The captives kissed him and disappeared into the forest. After that, he fired several rounds into the ground and returned to his platoon.

Romanian troops in southern Moldova, 1944.

Some Romanian soldiers raped Soviet women when the opportunity arose. Sergeant Zamfir was horrified by this; he is convinced that this is one of the most terrible sins. If an officer had seen this, he would have shot such a soldier on the spot, but the soldiers were not constantly in front of the officers. Often rapists were punished by their own fighters. If the rapist was wounded, he was never taken from the battlefield.

At the end of 1942, four high-ranking German officers visited the positions of the Romanian troops. Although after several weeks of fierce fighting the front had advanced only 2-3 kilometers, the German general proclaimed: “Before next Christmas, we will be marching with you through the streets of America!” Sergeant Zamfir had no idea where this America was; he fought until exhaustion in the cold Russian winter in the hope of surviving and meeting the next Christmas alive.

Just three days after the visit of German officers, Soviet troops launched a massive attack, supported by powerful artillery fire, as well as many T-34 tanks and dive bombers. In just one night, the Romanian front was broken through, and a hasty retreat began. Soviet soldiers shouted to us: “Brothers Romanians, see you in Bucharest!”

During the first week the retreat was so rapid that they left behind wounded who could not walk. Sergeant Zamfir cannot forget the desperate cries of the wounded soldiers and their hands with which they tried to reach their comrades. The Soviet army killed all wounded prisoners.

The Romanian troops had almost no supplies, so they had to use captured weapons and captured ammunition and eat what came along the way. There were periods when they ate dogs, killed horses, or even raw grain and raw potatoes found in villages. Captured army food was most valued, so several attacks were launched - through guerrilla infiltration into enemy positions - to seize supplies. Soon the Soviet troops began to exercise more caution and better defend their supply units.

On May 2, 1943, in one of the clashes with Soviet infantry, Sergeant Zamfir was wounded by shrapnel from an artillery shell. He was lucky: he was evacuated to a field hospital, so he survived. A week later, this hospital with all the wounded retreated to Sevastopol. Sergeant Zamfir, among 700 Romanian and German wounded, was taken aboard a German hospital ship and evacuated towards Constantinople.

Despite the fact that the hospital ship was painted white and had a red cross on it, it was attacked by Soviet bombers immediately after leaving Sevastopol harbor. It sank 12 kilometers from the coast. Only 200 people, including the crew, survived the attack. They had to spend the night in the water, as the lifeboats on the ship sank with it. By morning, less than 100 people remained alive. The survivors were picked up by a German submarine leaving Sevastopol, but its command could not change its route to deliver the rescued Romanians to the Romanian port of Constanta. Many of those rescued from the water died on the way, as there were no doctors on board the boat, only crew members. By the end of the journey, only 30 people from the lost hospital ship survived.

Sevastopol destroyed as a result of fighting

Sergeant Zamfir was taken to a large hospital in Vienna, where he was treated. Two months later he was sent by plane to Constanta to return to the combat unit. His division was by then tasked with providing coast guard duties for the Constanta area, recovering from huge losses on the Eastern Front. It was a quiet period for the division, as the enemy made no attempts to land on the coast of Romania.

During the autumn of 1944, the restoration and rearmament of the 9th Division was completed and it was sent by train to Tarnaveni and from there on foot to Oarba de Mures. There the division met with several Soviet combat units and received orders: to cross the Mures River and attack the Germans, taking them by surprise. Romanian fighters were supposed to go on the attack, and Soviet troops “support” them from the rear. Colonel Vatasescu addressed his soldiers and told the truth about the situation: “We must do this in order to stay alive and protect our country. If we do not attack the Germans, Soviet troops will shoot us as prisoners, burn our houses, and kill our children. Those Soviet units that you see here are not here to support us, but to shoot us if we retreat. So don't count on their help. If any of you survive this war, remember that we did this for the sake of our people."

They crossed the Mures River, crossing on rubber boats, and launched a frontal attack on the German troops located across the river. The attack was successful, mainly because the fighters fought to the last, knowing that they had little artillery and armored support. And the Germans had good artillery support and even several tanks, so the Romanian losses were significant. But the Romanians still made a breakthrough and then continued the offensive almost without delay, liberating Hungary from the Nazis.

Orders were received from the Soviet command to attack constantly, without breaks for rest or replenishment of personnel. The first stop was only allowed at Debrecen, when the 9th Division was so weakened that it no longer had any chance of advancing successfully. Even the Soviet command understood that for further advancement it needed reinforcements from Romania.

After a short break in Debrecen, the offensive resumed under the same difficult conditions. The most brutal and terrible battles took place in the mountainous areas, in the Tatras, where battles often turned into one-on-one fights in trenches, using knives and stakes. A real mutual slaughter. Here Sergeant Zamfir was wounded again, with three bullets in the right thigh. He was evacuated by plane to Medias (Romania) and underwent surgery. Fortunately for him, the shots were fired from a long distance and the thigh bone was not very badly shattered. Just two weeks later he was returned to the front, not fully recovered, but “fit for combat service.”

One day, a Soviet officer addressed the Romanian troops with the following words: “We must completely destroy Germany, shoot everyone, from children to old people, and women too. Germany must remain completely deserted." (Where this was said is unknown, since many soldiers were not told where they were.) Most Romanians were shocked by this order, and only a few carried it out. But the attitude of Soviet soldiers towards the Germans pushed some Romanian soldiers to the point that they, like some Red Army soldiers, began to rape German women and rob German houses.

Sergeant Zamfir remembers that women smeared themselves with dirt and feces to prevent the invading soldiers from raping them. Sometimes mothers themselves gave themselves up to soldiers to save their children from violence. German men preferred suicide to Soviet captivity, so as not to be tortured by Soviet soldiers. These were inhuman principles of behavior, a terrible time. Sergeant Zamfir is convinced that only his faith in God saved him. The principles of Christian teaching were the only law for him. He is ashamed of the behavior of some of the soldiers in his army, and he prays for the German civilians who were then killed.

The advance of Romanian troops ceased with the end of the war. Over the next month, Romanians, under the leadership of Soviet commanders, patrolled the occupied territory. After this, they were sent to get home on foot, since the Soviet command refused to provide railway transport. They reached the Romanian border on July 19, 1945, from there they were sent to Brasov. There the Red Army soldiers disarmed them and sent them home. During the time that they fought against the German troops, they did not receive any payment and went home with nothing but their clothes. But they were glad to be alive.

On June 22, 1941, together with Germany, fascist Romania attacked the USSR. The main goal of Romania's foreign policy was the return of territories transferred in 1940 to the Soviet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria. Despite the tension in relations with the last two states, in reality Romania, under the auspices of Germany, could only claim the return of lands occupied by the USSR (Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia).

Preparing for an attack

The Romanian 3rd Army (mountain and cavalry corps) and the 4th Army (3 infantry corps), with a total strength of about 220 thousand, were intended for military operations against the USSR. According to statistics, the Romanian army was the largest among the German allied forces.

However, 75% of Romanian soldiers were from among the dispossessed peasants. They were distinguished by their unpretentiousness and patience, but were illiterate and therefore could not understand the complex army equipment: tanks, cars, high-speed German guns, machine guns confused them. The national composition of the Romanian army was also varied: Moldovans, Gypsies, Hungarians, Turks, Transcarpathian Ukrainians. Romanian officers had extremely poor training. There were no fighting traditions in the Romanian army on which military personnel could be educated. As a German corporal recalls: “The Romanian army was the most demoralized. The soldiers hated their officers. And the officers despised their soldiers.”

Along with the infantry, Romania contributed the largest contingent of cavalry. The six pre-war cavalry brigades were deployed into divisions in March 1942, and in 1944 the number of regiments in each division was increased from three to four. The regiments were traditionally divided into two types - Rosiori and Calarasi. Roshiors in the 19th – early 20th centuries. called the Romanian regular light cavalry, resembling hussars. Kalarashi were territorial cavalry formations, recruited among large and medium-sized landowners, who provided themselves with horses and part of the equipment. However, already in 1941 the whole difference came down only to names. Foreign observers have repeatedly noted that, compared with conventional infantry divisions, the Romanian cavalry was characterized by high discipline and a spirit of military brotherhood.

The army's logistics were poor. Hitler knew all this, so he did not count on the Romanian army as a force capable of solving strategic problems. The German General Staff planned to use it mainly for auxiliary service in rear areas.

Invasion of the USSR

The first German troops, numbering 500,000 people, arrived in Romania back in January 1941 under the pretext of protecting the Antonescu regime from the Iron Guard. The headquarters of the 11th German Army was also transferred to Romania. However, the Germans settled near the oil fields, as they were afraid of losing access to Romanian oil in the event of larger riots of the legionnaires. By that time, Antonescu had managed to enlist the support of the Third Reich in the fight against the legionnaires. In turn, Hitler demanded that Antonescu assist Germany in the war against the USSR. Despite this, no joint agreements were concluded.

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the 11th German Army and units of the 17th German Army and the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies with a total number of more than 600,000 people were drawn to the Romanian-Soviet border. The Romanian command planned to seize small bridgeheads on the left bank of the Prut (the river along which the eastern Romanian border runs) and launch an offensive from them. The bridgeheads were located at a distance of 50-60 km from each other.

At 3:15 am on June 22, Romania attacked the USSR. In the first hours of the fighting, Romanian aviation carried out air strikes on the territory of the USSR - the Moldavian SSR, the Chernivtsi and Akkerman regions of the Ukrainian SSR, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Russian SFSR. At the same time, artillery shelling of border settlements began from the southern bank of the Danube and the right bank of the Prut. On the same day, after artillery preparation, Romanian and German troops crossed the Prut near Cuconesti-Vechi, Sculeni, Leuseni, Chory and in the direction of Cahul, the Dniester at Kartal, and also tried to cross the Danube. The plan with bridgeheads was partially implemented: already on June 24, Soviet border guards destroyed all Romanian troops on the territory of the USSR, with the exception of Sculeni. There the Romanian army took up defensive positions. The Romanian troops were opposed by the 9th, 12th and 18th Soviet armies, as well as the Black Sea Fleet.

Occupation of Bukovina, Bessarabia and the area between the Dniester and Bug rivers

Hitler agreed to the annexation of Bessarabia, Bukovina and the area between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers to Romania. These territories came under the control of the Romanian authorities, and the Bukovina Governorate (under the control of Riosheanu), the Bessarabian Governorate (the governor was K. Voiculescu) and Transnistria (the governor was G. Alexeanu) were established. Chernivtsi became the capital of the Bukovina governorate, Chisinau became the capital of the Bessarabian governorate, and first Tiraspol and then Odessa became the capital of Transnistria.

These territories (primarily Transnistria) were necessary for Antonescu for economic exploitation. They carried out active Romanianization of the local population. Antonescu demanded that local authorities behave as if “Romanian rule had been established in this territory for two million years,” and declared that it was time to move on to an expansionist policy, which included the exploitation of all types of resources in the conquered territories.

The Romanian administration distributed all local resources, previously the state property of the USSR, to Romanian cooperatives and entrepreneurs for exploitation. The local population was mobilized to serve the needs of the Romanian army, which led to damage to the local economy due to the outflow of labor. Free labor of the local population was actively used in the occupied territories. Residents of Bessarabia and Bukovina were used to repair and build roads and technical structures. By Decree-Law No. 521 of August 17, 1943, the Romanian administration introduced corporal punishment of workers. Also, local residents of the regions were exported to the Third Reich as Ostarbeiters. About 47,200 people were deported from Romanian-controlled territories to Germany.

Agriculture used the labor of “working communities” - former collective and state farms. Each community had from 200 to 400 hectares of land and consisted of 20-30 families. They grew crops both for their own needs and for the needs of the Romanian troops and administration. Communities and farms did not engage in cattle breeding, since all livestock was expropriated by the Romanian army. Of everything produced in the community during the year, the Romanian authorities allowed only 80 kg of grain per adult and 40 kg per child to be left for food; the rest was confiscated. In cities and other settlements where agriculture was not carried out, a card system for purchasing bread was introduced. One person received from 150 to 200 g of bread per day. In 1942, Antonescu issued a decree according to which food distribution standards in Bessarabia were reduced to a minimum (apparently, these were the minimum calories necessary for physical survival), while the harvest was collected under the supervision of the police and gendarmerie, and agricultural products, even to production waste, were transferred to the jurisdiction of local Romanian authorities.

The Romanian administration pursued a policy of Romanianization in the occupied regions. A number of laws were adopted that ousted Russian, Ukrainian and other languages ​​not only from the business sphere, but also from everyday life. Thus, all books in Russian, including those written in pre-reform Russian, were necessarily confiscated from libraries. Books in other European languages ​​were also confiscated. The confiscated literature was dealt with differently: some were burned locally, some were taken to Romania.

The population of the occupied territories was divided into three categories - ethnic Romanians, national minorities and Jews, who received identity cards of different colors (Romanians - white, minorities - yellow, Jews - green); all representatives of the Romanian state apparatus (including educators and priests) were ordered to “prove to the population that they are Romanians.”

A repressive policy was carried out against the civilian population, affecting all spheres of life. According to the orders of the Romanian gendarmerie, not only weapons in private use were subject to confiscation, but also all radio receivers of private individuals. Repression was even envisaged for group singing on the street. It should be noted that these orders have many similarities with similar German ones that were in force in Ukraine. As the local Romanian authorities themselves admitted, in reality, the occupation activities of Romania were controlled by the Germans, moreover, in order to avoid the reluctance of the Romanians to fight on the side of Germany, the Germans deployed so-called “points for the re-education of Romanian deserters,” and the advancing Romanian units were often followed by SS barrage detachments .

There was a gradual Romanization of educational institutions. First of all, this concerned Transnistria, where more Ukrainians and Russians lived than Moldovans. Romanian language teachers were sent to schools in the region and assigned to each class. A strict law was introduced in Chisinau that generally prohibited speaking Russian. In addition, the administration demanded the use of Romanian equivalents of Slavic names: Dmitry - Dumitru, Mikhail - Mihai, Ivan - Ion, etc. The local population did not obey these laws. According to the governor of Chisinau, “the use of the Russian language is again becoming a custom.” To resist Romanian laws and preserve the original culture of the peoples of Bessarabia, the intelligentsia created underground circles. These societies were persecuted by the police because they popularized and propagated non-Romanian cultures of Bessarabia and Bukovina among the population.

Battle of Stalingrad

In September 1942, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies arrived at Stalingrad, along with them were units of the Romanian Air Force: 7th fighter flight, 5th bomber flight, 1st bomber flight, 8th fighter flight, 6 1st flight of fighter-bombers and 3rd flight of bombers. These units were supposed to provide air support to the Romanian armies and the 6th German. The 3rd Army, under the command of Petre Dumitrescu, defended the German positions from the Don. By November 19, 1942, this army numbered approximately 152,490 men. The 4th Army under the command of Constantin Constantinescu took positions south of Stalingrad. In November 1942, this army numbered 75,580 people.

Between the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies was the German 6th Army under the command of Friedrich Paulus. Also in this region were the German 4th Army, the Italian 8th Army and the Hungarian 2nd Army, which together with the Romanian troops formed part of Army Group B. They were opposed by the 51st and 57th Soviet armies.

On November 19, the first major battle with the participation of Romanian troops took place near Stalingrad. It began with Soviet artillery preparation, after which the Red Army went on the offensive. The Romanian units found themselves in a difficult position, since heavy Soviet tanks took part in the offensive. In this regard, they had to retreat to Raspopinskoye. Another major battle took place in this village when Soviet tank units tried to liberate the village. Romanian troops managed to repel the attack, but the Red Army broke through the Stalingrad front near the Romanian 3rd Army in two places.

By the end of November 20, the front near the 3rd Army had been broken through 70 kilometers. In this regard, the army headquarters was transferred to the Morozovskaya settlement, and the 15,000-strong group of General Mihai Laskar was surrounded. On the same day, the 51st and 57th Soviet armies launched an attack on the 4th Romanian, and in the evening the 1st and 2nd Romanian divisions were defeated. On November 21, the 22nd Division tried to weaken the pressure on Mihai Laskar's group, but along the way it itself was drawn into battle. The 1st Romanian Division attempted to assist the 22nd Division, but during the counter-offensive it mistakenly arrived at the Soviet positions. Only on November 25 did the remnants of the 1st Division manage to leave the dangerous area.

On the evening of November 22, Laskar's group tried to escape the encirclement, but on the way to the German positions, Mihai Laskar was captured and most of the soldiers were killed. On November 23, this group was destroyed. Many Romanian units were also surrounded. On November 24, the Red Army continued its offensive, as a result of which the Romanian units suffered heavy losses. Only 83,000 Romanian soldiers managed to escape from the encirclement. The Stalingrad front now passed along the Chir River.

In the following days, the situation at the front only worsened. On November 25, the 4th Romanian division was forced to retreat under pressure from Soviet troops. However, on November 26, Romanian-German troops took the initiative into their own hands, stopping the Soviet offensive. On November 27, during the operation of the German troops “Wintergewitter”, the advancing Soviet units were stopped at Kotelnikovo. Although the Red Army's offensive was suspended, during the operation the 4th Romanian Army suffered losses of more than 80% of its personnel. On December 16, Soviet troops launched Operation Little Saturn, as a result of which the Romanian armies again suffered heavy losses. On the night of December 18-19, the 1st Corps, while trying to retreat, was detained by the 6th Soviet Army and defeated. To the south of the defeated 3rd Army there were still the Romanian 4th Army and the Italian 8th Army, which were jointly defending and trying to establish contact with the German forces at Stalingrad. The Italian army was defeated on December 18, and on December 26 the 4th Army retreated, suffering serious losses. On January 2, the last Romanian troops left the Chir River.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, Romanian troops suffered total losses of 158,850 people; the Romanian Air Force lost 73 aircraft during the battles. Of the 18 Romanian divisions stationed at Stalingrad, 16 suffered heavy losses. Another 3,000 Romanian soldiers were captured. On February 2, 1943, the battle of Stalingrad ended in victory for the Red Army.

Krasnodar operation

In December, Romanian troops were defeated at Stalingrad, and a difficult situation arose for the 2nd Mountain Division in the Caucasus. The 2nd Division received orders to leave North Ossetia on December 4, 1942. The retreat was carried out in difficult conditions, with low temperatures and constant attacks by Soviet troops. The 17th German Army was already in the Kuban, which consisted of 64,000 Romanian soldiers.

On January 11, 1943, the 6th and 9th Cavalry Divisions, together with the German 44th Corps, blocked the Red Army's path to Krasnodar. On January 16, the 9th Division entered into battle with three Soviet divisions, during which it was able to repel the attack. On February 12, Red Army troops entered Krasnodar and then attempted to drive the German armies out of Kuban. The 2nd Romanian Mountain Division found itself in a difficult situation, and therefore on February 20, the German 9th Infantry Division and the 3rd Romanian Mountain Division temporarily stopped the Soviet offensive and broke through to the 2nd Division.

At the same time, a reorganization of the Kuban front took place. Two Romanian cavalry divisions were sent to Anapa and the Black Sea coast. The remaining Romanian divisions were attached to the German forces or divided into several units. The 2nd Mountain Division remained in its previous positions. This reorganization preceded the Soviet offensive towards the Taman Peninsula. The offensive began on February 25, 1943. The 17th German Army managed to hold its position and repel the attack, and all Romanian units also remained in their positions. Despite the successful actions of the Romanian-German troops, they suffered heavy losses. Because of this, the 17th Army reduced the front line, and the 2nd Mountain Division left Kuban and retreated to the Crimea. On March 25, Soviet troops again tried to break through the German defenses, but the offensive again ended in failure. During the battle, the 1st Romanian battalion distinguished itself, which did not allow the Red Army to encircle the 17th Army. During the third Soviet offensive in April, the 19th Division was forced to withdraw to the rear due to heavy losses. On May 26, the fourth offensive began, this time the main direction was Anapa. During the fighting, the Red Army managed to take only Hill 121 by June 4. By that time, the 19th Division had returned to the front.

At the beginning of June 1943, the intensity of the fighting in Kuban decreased; during the break, the 3rd Mountain Division was sent to Crimea. On July 16, Soviet troops launched another offensive, but were driven back to their original positions. On July 22, two Soviet battalions broke through to Novorossiysk, all attempts to repel the attack were unsuccessful. During the battle for the city, Romanian-German troops suffered heavy losses, some units lost more than 50% of their personnel. Meanwhile, the evacuation of Romanian troops to Crimea continued, Romanian air force units were sent to Kerch, and the 6th Cavalry Division was also sent to Crimea. The 4th Mountain Division arrived to replace it.

On September 9, the Novorossiysk-Taman offensive operation of the Red Army began. In order not to lose control of Novorossiysk, the Romanian-German troops threw all their forces into battle. However, the Red Army carried out an amphibious operation on September 10, landing 5,000 people in the port of Novorossiysk. On September 15, the battle for Novorossiysk ended - German-Romanian troops were driven out of it. A difficult situation was also developing in the north of Kuban, and therefore the Romanian troops began to retreat.

On September 4, plans began to be developed for the evacuation of Romanian-German troops from the Taman Peninsula, and in mid-September, after the defeat of the German troops in Novorossiysk, the evacuation began. The 1st and 4th divisions left the region by plane on September 20. On September 24 and 25, the remaining Romanian units retreated from Kuban to Crimea, but the 10th Infantry Division reached Crimea only on October 1. The retreat was accompanied by constant battles with Soviet troops. As a result, from February to October, Romanian troops lost 9,668 people (of which 1,598 were killed, 7,264 were wounded and 806 were missing.

Coup d'etat and reorientation of foreign policy

On August 23, 1944, Ion Antonescu and his advisers, on the advice of Constantin Sanatescu, loyal to Mihai I, went to the palace of Mihai I in order to report on the situation at the front and discuss further military actions. By that time, during the Iasi-Chisinau operation, there was a breakthrough of 100 km at the front, and Antonescu urgently arrived to the king. He did not know that Michael I and the Communist Party agreed on a coup d'etat, and the Communists were even preparing an armed uprising. Ion Antonescu, arriving at the palace, was arrested and removed from power. At the same time, in Bucharest, military units led by communists and volunteer detachments took control of all government institutions, telephone and telegraph stations, depriving the country's leaders and German commanders of communication with Germany. At night, Mihai I spoke on the radio. During his speech, he announced a change of power in Romania, a cessation of hostilities against the USSR and a truce with Great Britain and the USA, as well as the formation of a new government led by Constantin Sănatescu. Despite this, the war continued. Not all Romanian officers knew about the truce or supported the new government. Thus, military operations in the south of Moldova continued until August 29, but already on August 31, Soviet troops occupied Bucharest.

The coup was not beneficial to Germany and the German troops stationed in Romania. This was Army Group Southern Ukraine, which included the German 6th Army, the German 8th Army, the German 17th Army Corps and the Hungarian 2nd Army. In order to suppress the uprising in Bucharest, German units were sent there, but were stopped by Romanian troops loyal to the king. German aircraft launched several bombings of Bucharest, and Romanian fighters engaged them in fierce battles. The German troops who were at the Prut front also immediately headed to the capital of Romania, but they were surrounded by the Red Army. At the same time, Romanian troops attacked German military units stationed in Ploiesti to guard the oil fields. These units attempted to retreat from Ploesti to Hungary, but suffered heavy losses and were unable to advance further. As a result, more than 50,000 German soldiers were captured in Romania. The Soviet command sent 50 divisions to help the Romanian troops and the rebels.

In Romanian historiography, it is generally accepted that the Romanian people independently overthrew Ion Antonescu and defeated the German armies located in Romania, and the assistance of the USSR and other foreign policy factors did not play the most significant role in the coup d'etat.

Ion Antonescu was handed over to the Soviet Union, and the Siguran service that supported him was dissolved. However, later the USSR returned the former conductor back to Romania, where he was shot along with some of his associates by the verdict of the tribunal.

The Germans arrived in Romania back in January 1941, under the pretext of protecting the Antonescu regime from the Iron Guard, which in November organized a wave of political murders, terror and Jewish pogroms; in January the legionnaires generally rebelled.

The Romanian army did not represent an independent force, the main reasons: poor weapons, lack of armored vehicles (the German command widely used captured equipment, weapons to arm the Romanians - even before the war they began to supply weapons to the Polish army, then Soviet and even American weapons, the low fighting qualities of the Romanian soldiers. In the field of the Air Force, half of their needs were covered by the IAR Braşov aircraft plant in Brasov, it was one of the largest aircraft factories in South-Eastern Europe, employing about 5 thousand people. It produced models - IAR 80, IAR 81, IAR 37 , IAR 38, IAR 39, aircraft engines. Components. The remaining needs were covered by foreign products - French, Polish, English, German aircraft. The Romanian Navy had only a few combat units (including 7 destroyers and destroyers, 19 gunboats, boats), without representing threats to the USSR Black Sea Fleet.A significant part of the ground units were cavalry brigades and divisions.

By the beginning of the war with the USSR, 600 thousand forces were pulled to the border, consisting of the 11th German army, part of the 17th German army, the 3rd and 4th Romanian armies. According to Romania, in July 1941, 342,000 Romanian soldiers and officers fought against the USSR on the Eastern Front. As in the case of other states or pro-fascist organizations in occupied countries, Romania declared this war “sacred”. Romanian soldiers and officers were informed that they were fulfilling their historical mission to “liberate their brothers” (Bessarabia) and defend “the church and European civilization from Bolshevism.”

At 3:15 a.m. on June 22, 1941, Romania attacked the Soviet Union. The war began with Romanian air strikes on Soviet territory - the Moldavian SSR, the Chernivtsi and Akkerman regions of Ukraine, and Crimea. In addition, artillery shelling of Soviet border settlements began from the Romanian bank of the Danube and the right bank of the Prut. On the same day, Romanian-German forces crossed the Prut, Dniester and Danube. But the plan to seize bridgeheads could not be fully implemented; already in the first days, Soviet border guards, with the support of Red Army units, liquidated almost all enemy bridgeheads, with the exception of Skulen. Resisted the enemy invasion: border guards, the 9th, 12th and 18th Soviet armies, the Black Sea Fleet. On June 25-26, border guards (79th border detachment) and units of the 51st and 25th rifle divisions even captured a bridgehead on the territory of Romania; the Romanian army was unable to destroy it. Soviet forces eventually left Romanian territory on their own in a general retreat in July.

At the same time, by the end of June in the north-west of Romania, the Germans formed a powerful strike force, preparing to carry out an operation to encircle Soviet forces. On July 2, the 11th German and 4th Romanian armies launched an offensive in the Balti region; the Soviet command expected such a blow, but made a mistake in choosing the location of the enemy’s main attack. They were waiting for him in the Mogilev-Podolsk direction, 100 km north of Balti. The command began a gradual withdrawal of troops to prevent their encirclement: on July 3, all lines on the Prut River were abandoned, on July 7 (fighting for it began on July 4) Khotyn was abandoned, in mid-July Northern Bukovina was abandoned, on July 13 the battles for Chisinau began - 16 July it was abandoned, on the 21st Soviet forces left Bendery, on the 23rd the Romanians entered them. As a result, all of Bessarabia and Bukovina were under the control of German-Romanian troops, and the front line moved to the Dniester River. On July 27, Hitler thanked Antonescu for his decision to fight for Germany and congratulated him on “returning the provinces.” A positive outcome of the border battles was the disruption of the German command’s plans to encircle and destroy the Red Army troops between the Prut and Dniester rivers.

Antonescu accepted Hitler's proposal to continue military operations beyond the Dniester: the 4th Romanian Army under the command of Nicolae Ciuperca, its strength was 340 thousand people, crossed the Dniester at the mouth on August 3 and on the 8th received an order to attack Soviet forces in the south of the Soviet defensive positions garrison. But the Black Sea Fleet prevented these plans, so on the 13th the Romanians bypassed the city from the north, completely cutting off its land communications. On August 4, the city received an order from the Supreme Command Headquarters for defense - initially, the garrison of Odessa amounted to 34 thousand people.

On August 15, the Romanian army attacked in the direction of Buldinka and Sychavka, but the assault failed, on August 17 and 18 they attacked along the entire perimeter of the defensive lines, on the 24th Romanian troops were able to break through to the city itself, but were then stopped. The enemy is trying to break resistance with air strikes: the main targets were the port and sea approaches to the city in order to interrupt the supply of the Soviet garrison. But the Romanian and German air forces did not have naval proximity mines, so it was not possible to block the naval supply. On September 5, the Romanian army stopped the offensive, and on the 12th, when reinforcements arrived, it continued its attempts to take the city. On September 22, Soviet forces consisting of the 157th and 421st Rifle Divisions, as well as the 3rd Marine Regiment, counterattacked on the left flank, the Romanians suffered heavy losses and the 4th Army was on the verge of defeat. The Romanian command demands reinforcements and raises the question of the advisability of a further siege. As a result, Moscow decided to withdraw its forces - the Red Army was pushed far to the east, Odessa lost its strategic importance. The operation was successful, Odessa was left without losses, leaving undefeated. The Romanian army suffered significant losses - 90 thousand killed, missing and wounded, more than a quarter of which were command personnel. Soviet irretrievable losses - more than 16 thousand people.

On the territory of Romania and the occupied lands of the USSR, the Romanians unleashed a policy of genocide and terror against Gypsies, Jews, and “Bolsheviks.” Antonescu supported Hitler’s policy of “racial purity” and considered it necessary to cleanse the territory of “Greater Romania” from “Bolshevism” and “racially unclean” peoples. He said the following: “I will achieve nothing if I do not cleanse the Romanian nation. It is not borders, but homogeneity and purity of race that give strength to a nation: this is my highest goal.” A plan was developed to exterminate all Jews in Romania. First of all, they planned to “cleanse” Bukovina, Bessarabia, Transnistria, after their “cleansing”, they planned to destroy the Jews in Romania itself, in total there were approximately 600 thousand people in these territories. The process of creating ghettos and concentration camps began, the largest of them being Vertyuzhansky, Sekurensky and Edinets. But the first prisoners and victims were the Roma; 30-40 thousand of them were arrested; in total, during the war, the Romanians killed approximately 300 thousand Roma.

Then they decided to completely transfer the Gypsies and Jews from the camps of Bessarabia and Bukovina to the concentration camps of Transnistria, beyond the Dniester. For these mass deportations of Jews and Gypsies, a special plan and routes were developed. Their foot marches were called “Death Marches”: they marched in winter, those lagging behind and those unable to walk were shot on the spot, holes were dug every 10 km where the corpses of the dead were buried. The camps of Transistria were overcrowded, a huge number of people died from hunger, cold and disease before their execution. The Galta district was called the “kingdom of death”; the largest concentration camps in Romania were located here - Bogdanovka, Domanevka, Akmachetka and Mostovoe. In the winter of 1941-1942, large-scale mass executions of prisoners were carried out in these concentration camps. In just a few days, the executioners shot 40 thousand unfortunate prisoners, another 5 thousand were burned alive in Bogdanovka. According to some reports, during this period alone, 250 thousand Jews were killed here.

On the occupied lands, the Bukovina Governorate, the Bessarabian Governorate (the governor was C. Voiculescu, the capital was Chisinau) and Transnistria (the governor was G. Alexianu, the capital was Tiraspol, then Odessa). A policy of economic exploitation and Romanianization of the population was carried out on these lands. Dictator Antonescu demanded that the local Romanian occupation authorities behave as if "the power of Romania had been established in this territory for two million years." All property of the SSR was transferred to the administration and Romanian cooperatives and entrepreneurs, the use of free forced labor was allowed, and corporal punishment of workers was introduced. More than 47 thousand people were deported from these lands to Germany as labor force. All livestock were taken away for the benefit of the Romanian army. Food consumption standards were introduced, everything else was confiscated. There was de-Russification of the territory - Russian books were confiscated and destroyed, the Russian language and the Ukrainian dialect were prohibited from being used in the state and business spheres. The Romanianization of educational institutions was underway, even Russian names were changed to Romanian: Ivan - Ion, Dmitry - Dumitru, Mihail - Mihai, etc.

The Romanian people then paid a high price for the mistakes of their political elite; despite the vast territories captured, Bucharest did not withdraw its troops from the front and continued the war. The 3rd Romanian Army took part in the battle of Uman, when the Romanians reached the Dnieper, they lost about 20 thousand more people. Romanian units took part in the invasion of Crimea, in the battle for Sevastopol; during the Crimean campaign they lost about 20 thousand more people. In general, it should be noted that a number of units of the Romanian army had a fairly high combat capability, especially with the support of the Wehrmacht; sometimes they showed amazing tenacity in battle, such as the 4th Mountain Division during the assault on Sevastopol. But the highest losses were expected by the Romanian units in the battle for Stalingrad - Stalingrad took more than 158 thousand people from the Romanian people, another 3 thousand soldiers were captured. The Romanian Air Force lost 73 aircraft during the Battle of Stalingrad. Of the 18 Romanian divisions stationed in the southern direction, 16 suffered heavy losses and were actually destroyed. In total, Romania lost 800 thousand people during the war, of which 630 thousand people died on the Eastern Front (of which 480 thousand were killed).

The year 1944 was a sad ending for fascist Romania: during the battles for Kuban and Taman, the German command was able to evacuate the main forces, but the Romanian troops lost about 10 thousand more people; in May, German-Romanian units left Crimea. In parallel, there was an offensive to the east: during the Dnieper-Carpathian, Uman-Botoshan, Odessa, Iasi-Kishinev operations of March-August 1944, Odessa, Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transnistria were liberated. On August 23, Antonescu was overthrown, power passed to Michael I and the Communist Party, Berlin was unable to suppress the uprising - the Red Army intervened and on August 31, USSR troops occupied Bucharest. King Michael I announced the end of the war with the USSR, Antonescu was extradited to Moscow, and the Siguranza that supported him was dissolved. However, later the USSR returned the former Romanian conductor (leader) back to Romania, where, after a trial in Bucharest, he was sentenced to death as a war criminal. The USSR returned Bessarabia and Bukovina (together with the Hertz region), in addition, on May 23, 1948, Bucharest transferred Zmeiny Island and part of the Danube Delta (including the islands of Maikan and Ermakov) to the Soviet Union. Southern Dobruja remained part of Bulgaria, Hungary gave Northern Transylvania to Romania. According to the Paris Peace Treaty of 1947, the USSR established an unlimited military presence in Romania.

Hour 0. Air Force Headquarters issues Combat Order No. 1001: all aviation formations must comply with Operational Directives No. 33, 34 and 35, developed during the period April-June 1941: reconnaissance and bomber aircraft will cross the eastern border of Romania, r. Prut, at 4 o'clock in the morning! In all aviation units, an Appeal to the troops was read, signed by General Ion Antonescu, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (“Fighters, I order you to cross the Prut!”) and Order No. 1 for the Air Force, signed by the squadron general, aviator Gheorghe Zhienescu: “Flyers, you have the honor of carrying to victory in the sky of Romanianism, a tricolor cross! The task for today is this: if the crew has used up all the ammunition, but was unable to win the battle, he directs his car at the enemy plane! (I find it difficult to translate this literally, but the meaning is this: if the ammunition runs out, and the enemy not shot down - ram the enemy plane!) Young flyers, the Motherland expects complete self-sacrifice from you..."

GAL flew 12 combat missions: 5 bombing missions, 4 long-range reconnaissance missions, and 3 short-range missions. 124 aircraft were involved (56 bombers, 64 fighters and 4 reconnaissance aircraft).

At 03.50 a Bristol Blenheim aircraft (tail number 36) set off for long-range reconnaissance. Crew: crew commander, Lieutenant Commander Corneliu Betacuy, commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron; junior lieutenant Nicolae Urytu - letnab; and junior military expert Vasile Caruntu - radiotelegraph operator. The plane did not carry defensive weapons and did not have fighter cover. He bombed the airfields in Ungheni and Belgorod-Dnestrovsk and discovered and radioed the coordinates of the airfields in Kulevcha and Bolgrad. In the Bolgrad area, the reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted by Soviet fighters and shot down. The pilots of this crew became the first losses of Romanian aviation in the Second World War.

Subsequently, bomber flights, from 03.50 to 13.15, were covered by fighters.

Results of the first day of the war: 48 enemy aircraft destroyed (8 in air battles, 3 shot down by anti-aircraft artillery and 37 destroyed on the ground). Own losses: 11 aircraft destroyed, 37 crew members killed, wounded or missing.

Squadron General Aviator Gheorghe Zhienescu said later: “Small but determined, our Air Force rushed into the sky, starting a life-and-death battle with the enemy air force.”

On June 22, 1941, units of the Romanian army and the German Wehrmacht were in combat readiness on the eastern border of Romania, on the river. Rod. In the north, in Bukovina, the 3rd Romanian Army was located (commander: General Petre Dumitrescu). It was entrusted with the following combat mission: liberating the city of Chernivtsi, developing an offensive towards the Dniester and Bug, bypassing the enemy group in the direction of Odessa-Crimea.

In the east, on the river. Prut, the 11th Army of the Wehrmacht was located (commander: General R. von Schobert). Mission: advance in the direction of Chisinau-Tiraspol-Nikolaev, with the support of the forces of the 4th German Air Corps and the 1st Romanian Armored Division. The 4th Romanian Army (commander: General Nicolae Ciuperca) was also in the same sector with the task of attacking in the southern direction towards Bolgrad-Belgorod-Dnestrovsk-Odessa. The combat air group (GAL) was tasked with supporting the actions of the 4th Romanian Army, mainly in the areas of crossing the river. Rod. The development of the offensive of the 3rd Romanian Army led to the liberation of Chernivtsi on July 5, 1941. Chisinau was liberated on July 16, 1941. The pushing back of Soviet troops beyond the river. The Dniester was completed by July 26, 1941, when Romanian troops entered Belgorod-Dnestrovska.

But the fighting continued. GAL continued to fly combat missions across the river. Dniester and r. Bug against a retreating enemy.

The fiercest battles took place in the area of ​​the bridgehead near the village. Falciu village, Tsiganka-Stoenesti-Cania region, where Romanian troops tried to gain a foothold on the left bank of the river. Rod. Ground troops from the 5th Romanian Army Corps were supposed to secure the right flank of the front and advance on Chisinau in the area of ​​the hilly and forested Cornesti massif. The operation to force the river. Prut, launched on July 4, 1941, was supported by bomber and fighter aircraft from the GAL. By July 12, 1941, the situation of the 5th Romanian Army Corps became critical. Bridgehead at the village Falciu was under threat. The GAL intervention was quick and effective: 9 bombing missions involving 113 aircraft (59 bombers and 54 fighters), between 0850-1940. This made it possible to cancel the retreat across the river planned for the night of July 12–13. Rod of the 5th Romanian Army Corps. Romanian pilots showed their best side, performing heroic deeds. Thus, junior lieutenant aviator Vasile Claru from the 2nd Fighter Flotilla, in an aerial duel with six enemy aircraft, having used up all the ammunition, rammed an enemy fighter with his IAR-80. The pilot's feat was appreciated - he was posthumously awarded the highest award of the Romanian army - the Military Order "Mihai Vityazu". On the same day, July 12, 1941, lieutenant reserve aviator engineer Ioan Lasku died a brave death. He was shot down by He.112 in the Tsiganka area. Returning from a combat mission against ground forces, he refused to be replaced and was shot down in air combat on his next combat mission. He was also awarded the Military Order "Mihai Viteazu".

During the campaign in Bessarabia, Romanian aviation shot down 242 enemy aircraft (83 in air battles, 108 destroyed on the ground and 51 shot down by anti-aircraft artillery). Their losses amounted to 43 vehicles (7 in air battles, 13 destroyed on the ground, 4 shot down by anti-aircraft artillery and 18 not identified). Crew losses - 117 people, of which 46 officers, 25 non-commissioned officers, 9 military specialists and 37 privates. In total, the losses of Romanian aviation personnel were as follows: 252 people, of which 57 were killed, 108 wounded and 87 missing.

Battle for Odessa

Capturing the city of Odessa was one of the priorities of the Romanian army. Odessa was a powerful naval base and posed a constant threat to Romania, as it was 150 km from Sulina and the mouth of the Danube, about 300 km from Constanta and the Danube bridge at Cernavod, and 200 km from Bucharest and the Ploiesti oil region. Valya Prakhovey. The offensive of the 4th Romanian Army against Odessa lasted 70 days, from August 8 to October 16, 1941. In total, in 1941, Romanian troops fought for 118 days. From the 4th Romanian Army alone, 340,223 military personnel (12,049 officers, 9,845 non-commissioned officers and 318,329 soldiers) were involved in the attack on Odessa. Of these, 90,000 were lost killed, wounded and missing (officers - 28.5%, non-commissioned officers - 14.6% and soldiers - 28.7%).

The performance of GAL combat aircraft in this operation was impressive: 5,594 aircraft were involved; 1,733 combat sorties were flown (163 reconnaissance, 344 bomber, 714 fighter and 512 communications). 1249 tons of bombs were dropped on the enemy; 151 enemy aircraft were shot down. Their losses amounted to 20 aircraft destroyed.

The Soviet landing at Chebanki-Grigorievka, east of Odessa, on the night of September 21-22, 1941, created a real threat to the Romanian troops. The 5th Romanian Army Corps and the 13th Infantry Division were forced to retreat. GAL within ten hours (07.55-18.10) deployed 94 aircraft (32 bombers and 62 fighters), of which 71 operated directly in the landing zone. At n.p. Dalnik, east of Odessa, on the night of October 1-2, 1941, Soviet troops managed to encircle units of the 4th Romanian Army, whose position became critical. And only the active intervention of GAL aviation (40-60 aircraft were involved daily) saved the situation, and even then only by October 4.

During the offensive operation on Odessa, August 21, 1941, near the village. Vasilievskaya, the commander of the 7th Fighter Group, captain-commander (posthumously) Alexandru Popishteanu, holder of the Order “Mihai Vityazu”, died in an air battle.

On October 16, 1941, Romanian troops entered Odessa, and thus the 1941 campaign was practically over. Units included in the GAL returned home to replace losses. Various aviation units remained in the combat zone, subordinate to the 3rd Romanian Army, as well as military units located in Tiraspol, Nikolaev and Odessa. The GAL's performance in the 1941 campaign was impressive: 7,857 aircraft flew on missions; 2,405 combat missions were flown; 266 enemy aircraft were destroyed; 1974.86 tons of bombs were dropped. Their losses amounted to 40 aircraft.

Restoration of aviation units. Air Force equipment plan for the 1942-1943 campaign.

Restoration of aviation units in the winter of 1941-1942. was a difficult and complex process that involved psychological and physical recovery of the crews, repair of equipment, replacement of losses and replacement of equipment. For 1942-1943 a plan was adopted to equip the Air Force by importing equipment from Germany and the local aircraft industry. A major role in this was played by the IAR Brasov plant, which covered 50% of Air Force requests (IAR-80, 81, 37, 38, 39 aircraft, aircraft engines and other equipment) and was one of the largest aircraft factories in South-Eastern Europe (about 5,000 workers ).

It also provided for the creation of the required number of anti-aircraft batteries for:

a) air defense of the country’s territory,

b) air defense of ground units at the front,

c) support for aviation units.

This plan was only partially implemented; the rapid development of events did not allow suppliers to fulfill their obligations.

At the beginning of 1942, on the Eastern Front there were only air and anti-aircraft units subordinate to the 3rd and 4th Romanian Armies, since enemy air units were not active.

Romanian aviation on the Stalingrad front and at the Don bend (1942)

1) GAL (commander: squadron general aviator Ermil Georgiou) with 17 squadrons (2 - reconnaissance, 4 - heavy bombers, 3 - light bombers, 6 - fighter, 2 - fighter-bomber/attack);

2) Air Force of the 3rd Army with 3 reconnaissance squadrons and an anti-aircraft artillery regiment (8 batteries: 2 - 75mm, 5 - 37mm and 1 - 13.2mm);

3) Air Force of the 4th Army with 3 reconnaissance squadrons and an anti-aircraft artillery group (6 batteries: 2 - 75mm, 3 - 37mm and 1 - 13.2mm);

4) 4th Air Defense Brigade with 21 batteries (8 - 75mm, 11 - 37mm, 1 - 13.2mm and 1 - radar); And

5) Forward Aviation Zone with 2 regional technical bases, 5 mobile workshops, 1 ambulance transport aircraft, 1 air transport group and 3 motor transport convoys.

Aviation units, operationally subordinate to the 4th German Air Fleet, were located at two base airfields, Tatsinskaya and Morozovskaya, located between the Don and Donets and four advanced airfields, Karpovka, Shutov, Bukovskaya, Pereyaslovsky. The actions of Romanian aviation were aimed at supporting the 6th German Army in the Stalingrad area and the 3rd Romanian Army at the Don Bend. In the Battle of Stalingrad, Romanian fighter aircraft accompanied German bomber aircraft on all of their missions. Basically, bombs were dropped on the northern part of the city, on fuel depots and railway tracks. At the same time, Romanian aviation operates in the northern direction of the advance of the German 6th Army in the Kotluban area. It bombs infantry concentrations, armored and vehicle convoys, railway tracks and buildings at the Kotluban, Katlinino, Ilovinskaya and Frolov stations. In September-October 1942 alone, 46 enemy aircraft were declared shot down in air battles (38 were confirmed). Until November 19, 1942, Romanian reconnaissance aircraft informed the command about the accumulation of enemy troops in the Kletskaya and Serafimovichi sectors and at the Chebotarev bridgehead, directly in front of the positions of the 3rd Romanian Army.

The Soviet counteroffensive on November 19-25, 1942 in the zone of the 3rd Romanian Army forced it to retreat and reach the northeastern borders of Romania in March 1944. The German 6th Army was surrounded and capitulated at Stalingrad, as were most of the Romanian ground units at the Don Bend. Due to unfavorable weather conditions, the actions of Romanian and German aviation were very limited.

The encircled group of General Mikhail Laskar was supplied with aviation as far as possible. On the morning of November 22, Captain Valentin Stanescu flew around the encircled troops on Fieseler Storch and landed near the village. Golovsky, which housed the headquarters of the 6th Romanian Infantry Division. He brought to General Petra Dumitrescu, commander of the 3rd Romanian Army, the last message from the encircled, signed by generals Lascar, Mazarin and Sian:

"1. The situation is very difficult. This morning (XI 22) a very powerful tank attack began, with the support of Katyushas on the left of the D.5I sector, on the right of the D.6I sector and on the left of the D.15I sector. The ring is shrinking every hour.

2. Only 40 artillery shells left. Most of the mortar rounds have been expended. The infantry has very little ammunition. Anti-tank artillery of all calibers is ineffective against enemy tanks. Infantry are dying under the tracks of tanks.

3. A very large number of wounded, but very little medicine.

4. We can hold out until tomorrow at most. People didn't eat for three days. On the night of November 22 to November 23, a breakthrough in the direction of Chernyshevskaya is planned."

The 7th IAG, located at the Karpovka airfield, on November 22 and 23 was forced, using the cannons of Bf.109G aircraft, to repel enemy attacks and evacuate under fire to the West, to the Morozovskaya airfield.

1st Romanian Royal Air Corps

In the period April-June 1943, the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps was created at the Kirovograd airfield, with the support of the Luftwaffe. The German side provided aircraft for all types of aircraft (fighter, bomber, attack, reconnaissance), which were purchased by the Romanians; training of crews and ground personnel; provision (repairs, fuels and lubricants, etc.). In operational terms, the Corps was subordinate to the 4th German Air Fleet. On June 16, 1943, the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps (commander: Squadron General Aviator Emanoil Ionescu, nicknamed "Pipitsu") entered the battle. He carried out both independent operations and in support of the Romanian-German troops operating on the Eastern Front, in the areas of Mius-Izyum-Donets, the Dnieper-Dnieper bend, Bessarabia, Moldova, covering their retreat to the West.

On June 15, 1943, the combat component of the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps included: 1 reconnaissance squadron with 12 Ju.88D-1 aircraft; 1 fighter air group (3 squadrons) with 40 Bf.109G aircraft; 1 air group of heavy bombers (3 squadrons) with 25 aircraft (12 less than required) Ju.88A; 1 air group of dive bombers (3 squadrons) with 29 aircraft (12 less than required) Ju.87; 1 transport squadron with 4 Ju.52 aircraft; 1 communications squadron with 10 Fieseler Fleet and IAR-38 aircraft; 1 anti-aircraft artillery regiment (3 divisions) with 78 anti-aircraft guns to provide air defense for airfields. In August 1943, the 8th Assault Air Group (3 squadrons) with 34 Hs.129 aircraft arrived at the front. Thus, the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps had 140 combat and 14 auxiliary aircraft, and 78 anti-aircraft guns.

Intensive use of equipment (5-6 and even 8 sorties/day/attack aircraft and 4-6 sorties/day/fighter) led from the very first months of fighting to severe wear and tear of equipment (less than 52% of combat-ready aircraft). For the period 06/16/43-06/16/44, fighter aviation had the largest number of days with combat sorties (256) and sorties (6006); next were attack aircraft (185, 3869), dive bombers (160, 3644), and heavy bombers (161, 2579). Heavy bombers dropped 3,742.5 tons of bombs on the enemy.

According to archival data, the fighter aircraft of the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps during this period scored 299 confirmed air victories with the loss of 109 of their aircraft (all types). In total, the Air Force scored 401 victories, of which: anti-aircraft artillery - 62, heavy bombers - 13, dive bombers - 12, etc. The heaviest losses were among attack aircraft - 40, followed by fighters - 25, heavy bombers - 21, dive bombers - 15 and reconnaissance aircraft - 7. (I know the sum of these numbers is not 109, but that’s what my source says) Of the total losses 86 were operational, and 23 were lost in various accidents. Another 391 aircraft of the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps were damaged in various accidents but could be repaired in the field or in the factory. Thus, 500 aircraft were disabled.

Human losses during the above-mentioned period amounted to 84 people. The greatest losses were among officers (pilots) and non-commissioned officers (pilots) in bomber (12; 4) and attack (4; 9) aviation...>

Large aviation losses are explained by the complexity of the missions performed (low flight altitude, density of anti-aircraft fire, etc.) and the numerical superiority of the enemy (1:3, and even 1:5 for fighter aircraft).

In 1944, the 1st Romanian Royal Air Corps was stationed in the south of Bessarabia and Moldova. In March 1944, the eastern and northeastern parts of Romania again became a theater of military operations. Until August 20, 1944, the front stabilized at the Carpathians-Pashcani (or more correctly Pashcani)-Iasi-Chisinau line.

During the period April-August 1944, the following events occurred: the retreat of German-Romanian troops from Crimea and the American-British bombing of Romanian territory, in particular the Ploiesti-Prahova oil region.

Evacuation of German-Romanian troops from Crimea

The evacuation of German-Romanian troops from Crimea was carried out in two stages, and each time only with the personal permission of Hitler, who did not want to cede Crimea, adhering to the geopolitical principle: “whoever owns Crimea controls the Black Sea.”

On April 9, 1944, of the Romanian troops in Crimea there were: 65,083 people (2,433 officers, 2,423 non-commissioned officers and 60,227 privates); 27472 horses; 7650 carts; 1811 cars, including motorcycles; 206 guns; 293 anti-tank guns; 12 tanks, etc.

Results of the first phase of the evacuation of German-Romanian troops from Crimea (April 14-27, 1944): 72,358 people were evacuated by sea, 25 convoys escorted by warships and partly by plane. Of the total number of evacuees, only 20,779 were Romanians, of whom 2,296 were wounded. By air, Romanian and German military transport aircraft, 6,365 people were evacuated, of which 1,199 were Romanians (384 wounded).

The second phase of the evacuation (May 9-12, 1944) took place with heavy losses, since naval convoys, deprived of air cover, were constantly attacked by Soviet aircraft. Losses amounted to: 9 sunk and 5 damaged ships, and about 9,000 people killed, of which 3,000 were Romanians.

Against the Germans

On August 23, 1944, a revolution occurred in Bucharest and King Mihai officially declared the start of war with Germany and its allies.

This development of events was a complete surprise for both Romanian and German pilots. The seizure of Luftwaffe aircraft and property began. The Romanians received only 228 aircraft, but most of the airworthy aircraft were transferred to new allies - the Red Army Air Force. Here is what the famous Soviet ace Skomorokhov recalled about this: “... German aircraft - Me-109 and FV-190 - were captured at Romanian airfields. We had the opportunity to fly them, to better study their strengths and weaknesses. And we immediately took advantage of this suitable occasion. We quickly got used to the cockpit equipment of captured vehicles and began to try them out in flights. Then we conducted a whole series of training air battles: “Messers” and “Fokkers” against “Lavochkin”. We were able to identify many interesting features in enemy vehicles, which later brought us invaluable benefit."

Vehicles that escaped confiscation received identification marks of the new Romanian Air Force - red, yellow and blue cockades.

The first combat mission of the Romanian Air Force was an attack by a pair of IAR-81Cs on a small post in Tanderei. As a captured German officer later claimed, after the raid, out of 80 soldiers of the garrison, only 27 remained alive.

Almost immediately the Germans began bombing Bucharest. Fighters of the 7th and 9th fighter groups were raised to defend the capital and transferred to the Popesti-Leordeni airfield. They were not bored. So, already on August 25, Captain Cantacuzino (the best Romanian ace of World War II) led six Bf-109Gs to intercept 11 He-111s heading towards the city. The bombers went without cover and as a result, the Luftwaffe was short of six vehicles (three vehicles were shot down and three more were damaged). On the way back, the Romanian pilots discovered a group of Ju.87s, also flying without cover. It was not a sin to take advantage of this, and soon one “thing” was already burning out on the ground. The Laptezhniki were saved from complete defeat only by the attackers' small amount of fuel and ammunition. The next day, the Messers shot down three more German aircraft and destroyed two Ju-52s on the ground.

In total, until August 31, the 9th IAG alone completed 41 combat missions. The pilots scored 7 confirmed victories, three more were recorded as speculative and two aircraft were destroyed on the ground. After the “battle for the capital,” the 7th IAG was disbanded (due to the presence of literally several airworthy vehicles) and joined the 9th IAG (Captain Lucian Toma was appointed as the new commander).

On September 1, the creation of the 1st Romanian Air Corps (Corpul 1 Aerian Roman) was announced to support the Soviet offensive in Transylvania and Slovakia. Almost all available vehicles were transferred to air bases in southern Transylvania. New conditions dictated new rules - a radical reorganization of the air force took place. And at the beginning of September the Corps consisted of:

Fighter Command

2nd Fighter Group (IAG): 65th and 66th Fighter Squadrons (IAE) (IAR-81C)

6th IAG: 59th, 61st and 62nd IAE (IAR-81C)

9th IAG: 47th, 48th and 56th IAE (Bf-109G)

Bomber Command

3rd Dive Bomber Group: 74th and 81st Dive Bomber Squadron (Ju-87D5)

5th Bomb Group: 77th and 78th Bombardment Squadrons (Ju-88A4)

8th Attack Group: 41st and 42nd Attack Squadrons (Hs-129B2)

11th and 12th Reconnaissance Squadrons (IAR-39)

2nd Long-Range Reconnaissance Squadron (Ju-88D1)

transport squadron (Ju-52 and IAR-39, DFS-230 glider tugs)

There are only 210 aircraft, half of which are German-made, which simply created enormous difficulties in operation.

44th IAE (IAR-80B, IAR-81A and Bf-109G)

85th Airborne Dive Bomber Squadron (Ju-87D5)

60th Assault Air Force (Hs-129B2)

14th and 15th reconnaissance air units (IAR-39)

Transylvania

The first to appear in Transylvania were the IAR-81Cs, which were relocated to the Turnizor airfield on September 7th. Two days later, the pilots completed their first combat mission. The most unpleasant surprise of the first combat day for the pilots was the fact of shelling by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners, who damaged one plane. Having managed to thoroughly study the silhouettes of the Henschels and other German-made aircraft, the anti-aircraft gunners opened fire without bothering to study the identification marks. Most could not even think that the Hs-129 or Ju-87 could fight on the side of the Red Army.

The flight of eight Hs-129B-2s to German positions in the area of ​​the town of Turda near Kolosvár on September 14, 1944 ended even more tragically. Two Romanian aircraft were shot down by German Bf.109s from the 52nd fighter squadron and two by Soviet anti-aircraft artillery. However, the most severe losses were among the flight crew - one pilot was killed, and another was hospitalized with serious injuries.

On the same day, IAR pilots, after attacking the airfield in Someseni, recorded one Gotha transport glider destroyed on the ground. On September 15, the same airfield (not far from Cluj) was also “visited” by the Messerschmitts. The pilots approached from the north (where they were not expected) and, as if at a training ground, they shot down all the equipment that was on the runway. Among those destroyed were the Re-2000, Fw-58 and three transport gliders of the Hungarian Air Force.

On September 16, IAR pilots encountered German fighters for the first time. While covering the He-111H group, six IAR-81Cs were attacked by a pair of Bf-109Gs. Romanian fighters by that time were morally and physically outdated, and therefore the Messers, despite the enemy’s numerical advantage, shot down one plane - adjutant Joseph Ciuhulescu (adj. av. Iosif Ciuhulescu). On the same day, during a similar mission, one bomber was shot down and one fighter was damaged.

September 18 was marked by the first battle between the Romanian “Messers” and their German colleagues. The score was in favor of the latter - one Romanian fighter was shot down, and the pilot of the second made an emergency landing. After this, the Messers were transferred mainly to escorting attack aircraft and bombers.

On September 23, eight IARs collided with a group of Bf-109Gs of the same size. In the ensuing battle (more like a beating), the 2nd Fighter Group lost 3 IAR-81Cs and two pilots. However, adjutant Andone Stavar (adj. av. Andone Stavar) managed to shoot down one of the attacking fighters, but this was more an accident than a pattern.

On the same day, IAR-81C (but from a different group - the 6th IAG) fought another battle. Over Turda, while covering an Hs-129B2 raid, eight fighters were intercepted by eight Fw-190Fs. Soon the ubiquitous "Messers" of JG 52 arrived in the area. In the battle, the Romanians lost two aircraft and one pilot. Upon their return, they recorded four Germans shot down (but only two victories were confirmed). This was the last battle of the group's pilots in the IARs - they soon began mastering the Messers (it is worth noting that they were never able to master the new machines and the group was unable to take virtually any part in further battles).

On September 25, the Air Corps lost 4 aircraft and 3 pilots (all IAR-81C). Four days later, another plane was lost (and again the pilot was killed). So in a short period of time, the 2nd Fighter Group lost 12 aircraft and 8 pilots killed and two wounded. Such catastrophic losses (such a level did not occur even at Stalingrad in 1942!) led to a complete decline in morale. The pilots began to actively express their dissatisfaction, and eventually the old IARs were transferred to assault work.

But the Messers distinguished themselves - Captain Tom shot down a Ju-188, but he himself was forced to land in a field (the gunners of the German bomber tried their best). Captain Konstantin Cantacuzino again took command of the group. In total, in September, Romanian Bf.109s made 314 combat missions.

In October and November the weather was very bad and the number of flights was minimal. In early November, the remaining IAR-81Cs were transferred to Turkeve airfield in Hungary. However, the Romanians managed to make their first combat mission only on the 17th. The task was to attack a German column, very little is known about the results, only Lieutenant Gheorghe Mociornita (Lt. av. Gheorghe Mociornita) recorded the destruction of his truck (apparently, this was the enemy’s only loss). Five days later, the same pilot was able to destroy two more trucks, and adjutant Mihai Momarla (adj. av. Mihai Momarla) destroyed an anti-aircraft battery. However, the losses were quite large: three aircraft were damaged during such attacks (two aircraft were able to make emergency landings on “friendly” territory). These were one of the last flights in Transylvania; in December the group was transferred to the Miskolc airfield.

On November 17, a lone Ju-87D took off to attack enemy positions south of Budapest (by the way, it is completely unclear why alone). Naturally, he was attacked by German fighters. The damage was very extensive, and the pilot adjutant Nicolae Stan (adj. sef av. Nicolae Stan) was seriously wounded (strangely, there is no information about the gunner). Fortunately, Romanian fighters appeared in the area and the Germans abandoned the bomber, considering it shot down.

However, despite the unfavorable development of events, Nicolae was still alive and, after two unsuccessful attempts, was able to land at a Soviet airfield. He only had the strength to open the lantern. The pilot was immediately sent to a field hospital, where he met the end of the war.

The fighting in Transylvania continued until October 25, when Romanian troops reached the modern Hungarian border. During seven weeks of fighting, Romanian aviation suffered heavy losses.

Slovakia

The first combat sorties over Czechoslovakia were carried out by Romanian aviation as part of the 5th Air Army of the Red Army Air Force. The attack aircraft worked in the interests of the 27th and 40th Soviet combined arms armies. In the second half of December, when the fighting moved to the territory of Slovakia, the Romanian aviation corps had 161 combat aircraft. In reality, the number of aircraft suitable for flight was much smaller: due to a lack of spare parts, combat readiness did not exceed 30-40%. The largest group that the Romanians sent on combat missions was six, but more often they flew in fours. The critical situation with spare parts for German-made equipment forced the cannibalization of several serviceable aircraft. Several serviceable and damaged captured aircraft were handed over to the Romanians by the Soviet command.

Despite all the efforts of the Romanian pilots, they were unable to satisfy the demands of the Soviet command, which were far from reality. Two or three combat sorties a day to attack the positions of the German-Hungarian troops seemed an impossible task. Nevertheless, the constant attacks carried out by the Henschels and Junkers on fortified defense points, railway stations, and reconnaissance brought tangible benefits to the Red Army troops. The importance of the actions of Romanian pilots was repeatedly noted with gratitude in orders, some pilots received Soviet military orders and medals.

On December 19, ten Hs-129Bs attacked the Rimavska Sobota railway station in two waves and then attacked a column of German troops on the highway leading out of the city. According to the pilots' reports, one train was burned at the station, and four trucks were destroyed on the highway. Most likely, this was the first combat flight of Romanian aircraft over Slovakia.

With the first success came the first losses. Already on the same day (December 19), five Romanian Henschels were intercepted by eight German Bf.109s, one attack aircraft was shot down. The slightly wounded pilot managed to make an emergency landing in the Miskolc area, during which the plane received minor damage.

On December 20, Romanian planes again appeared over the Rimavska Sobota station, they attacked columns of German troops retreating to the west. Another target of the raid that day was the Filakovo railway station and the bridge located near it. On December 21, units of the 27th and 40th Soviet combined arms armies launched an attack in the general direction of Lucenets. As weather conditions improved, aviation activity increased. 19 aircraft from Grupul 8 Asalt/Picaj attacked targets located in southern Slovakia and reappeared over the Filakovo station. On December 22, three Henschels attacked a column of troops on the street of the village of Zelena. First, the planes dropped bombs, and then they fired at the column with cannon and machine-gun fire.

The commander of the 27th Combined Arms Army, Colonel General Trofimenko, expressed gratitude in an order to the Romanian pilots for their actions during the period from December 20 to 22, 1944. Romanian aviation continued to carry out combat sorties on December 23. "Henschels" bombed a column of German troops numbering 150 vehicles near the village of Kälna. 15 cars were set on fire. On the same day, the Filakovo station was subjected to another raid. On the same day, while escorting several Ju-87Ds, German pilots from JG.52 intercepted a lone Messer with Adj sitting in the cockpit. av. Ioan Marinciu. At first he fought with two opponents, but soon there were four of them. It is clear that he had very little chance of survival. The Romanian's plane was practically torn to pieces, the pilot was wounded in the face, arms and legs. But despite the enormous blood loss, he was able to emergency land his Bf-109G6 near Zelok. Thanks to the Soviet soldiers, the pilot was immediately sent to a field hospital and survived. By the way, an interesting detail - to this day Ioan is sure that he was shot down by Erich Hartmann.

On December 24, only one attack aircraft was left in the Henschel group, so only Ju-87 dive bombers flew on combat missions. Moreover, upon returning, three “pieces” were intercepted by four “Messers”. The German pilots mistook them for their own and, flapping their wings, to the delight of the Romanian pilots, they retired.

On Catholic Christmas Day, December 25, the Romanian Air Force suffered further losses. Three IARs of the 2nd fighter group flew for armed reconnaissance to the Lutsenek area. After they attacked the ground units, a pair of Bf-109Gs took off to intercept them. The battle could not be avoided in the battle Adj. av. Dumitru Niculescu died, and adj. av. Nicolae Pelin made an emergency landing.

The first day of the last year of the Second World War turned out to be cloudy. Thanks to bad weather, pilots and technicians of both warring sides were able to celebrate the New Year calmly. On January 2, it froze, the fog cleared, and the war came into its own again. On this day, Romanian "Henschels" stormed convoys on the roads in the area of ​​the Tomaszow railway station and on the Luchinets-Poltar highway. The 41st Squadron continued active combat operations on January 3 and 5, 1945. The targets of attacks by Hs-129s with Romanian cockades on the wings and fuselages were the Kalnya and Luchinets railway stations, retreating columns of German troops in the areas of Tomashovets, Breznichi, and Poltara. On January 5, the plane of adjutant Konstinu Bogian was hit by an anti-aircraft shell, but the pilot was able to bring the damaged car home to the Miskolc airfield. During all combat missions, attack aircraft were covered by Bf fighters. 109G from Grupul 9 Vinatoare (9th Fighter Group). There was practically no German aviation in the air, so the Romanian Messerschmitts joined the attack aircraft and attacked ground targets. Over three days in January, Romanian aviation carried out 107 sorties and dropped 36 tons of bombs.

On January 12, 8 IAR-81 were transferred to Debrecen to strengthen the city's air defense, although their benefit was minimal. Although they did distinguish themselves once: on February 9, a pair of these “fighters” intercepted an Hs.129, the pilot of which was trying to desert to the German side. It is clear that the attack aircraft simply did not have a chance. The reality of the war was such that all three pilots knew each other very well, since they served in the same unit during the Eastern Campaign!

The next day (that is, January 13th), the commander of the 74th dive bomber squadron, lt. av. Badulescu led 7 Ju-87D5s to Budapest. The target was the Elizabeta Bridge - the main transport artery connecting Buda and Pest and therefore well covered by air defense systems. Soviet bombers made several attempts to destroy it and now it was the turn of the new allies. Having gained a height of 4000 meters, when approaching the city they received cover - Yaks. Romanian and Soviet pilots attacked the bridge from a dive. The strike was successful - four bombs hit the bridge, and the losses were only one plane, whose pilot was able to land the car at the nearest airfield. However, the bridge continued to function and the four Ju-88A-4s remaining in service were scrambled to bomb it. They were led by lt. av. Gheorghe Georgescu (very experienced pilot - 200 combat missions throughout the war). Even before approaching the target, one Junkers turned home - a worn-out engine failed. Therefore, only three aircraft attacked the bridge from an altitude of 5000 meters. From a height of 1,500 meters they dropped their deadly load and at least two 250-kg bombs hit the bridge. Despite the heavy anti-aircraft fire, all the vehicles returned home.

On January 19, the traditional winter offensive of the Soviet troops began. The blow was delivered from the border of the western and northern spurs of the Carpathians in the direction of the Vistula and Oder rivers. The right flank of the 2nd Ukrainian Front also took part in the winter offensive operation. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian attacked on the territory of Czechoslovakia. On the first day of the operation, aviation activity was hampered by low clouds and snowstorms.

The next day the weather improved, the command of the 1st Romanian Air Corps threw all airworthy aircraft into battle. "Henschels" and "Junkers" of the Romanian Air Force worked directly over the battlefield and struck at the enemy's near rear. At approximately 16:00, several Ju.87s set off to attack the Banske Bistrich railway station. When approaching the target, the pilot of one aircraft (adjutant Ion Radu), board. No. 2 was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. Unfortunately, this happened on the other side of the front. A Fieseler Fi.156C was sent to help the crew, but it got stuck in deep snow. Then the Romanian command sent Fleet F.10G (it is unclear what caused this decision - after all, the plane is two-seater!!), but there was no one at the landing site. German mountain riflemen captured Ion Radu, his rear gunner, Sergeant Constantin Perigescu, and the Fizler pilot, Reserve Lieutenant Emil Mog. But this was not known and the pilots were listed as missing in action. In reality they were taken to Banska Bistricha. But after the retreat on March 23, the Germans simply forgot them... The Romanians remained without water and food for three days until the Red Army entered the city. But their adventures did not end there. The pilots were in German flight uniforms, without documents, and SMERSH officers arrested them “just in case.” The investigation dragged on for a long time and only on June 12, 1945 they returned to their homeland.

It is interesting that the damaged “thing” was sent to the nearest aircraft workshop by the economic “things”, but they did not have time to repair it.

During the day, the Henschels twice attacked German heavy artillery positions near Tomashevets and the Lovinobana railway station. A strong explosion indicated that the bombs dropped from the Hs-129 hit the ammunition train. According to Romanian data, nine attack aircraft were in the air for 10 hours and 40 minutes and dropped 2,700 kg of bombs on the enemy. However, only seven cars returned home. Two subcontinents, Alexandru Nicolai and Constantin Dumitru, were declared missing. The exact cause of the death of the pilots (German anti-aircraft artillery fire or fighter attacks) remained unknown.

On February 14, the air war became even more fierce. Five Hs-129s destroyed four trucks and several carts in the vicinity of Podrichany. Then the Henschels, together with Ju-87 dive bombers, attacked the Lovinobanya railway station. This day was also not without losses: one Henschel crashed in Miskolc during a flight after engine repairs, the pilot adjutant Vasile Skripčar was killed. Skripchar was known in Romania not only as a pilot, but also as a talented reporter and artist.

On January 15, the first goal of the offensive operation was achieved - Soviet troops liberated Luchinets. During the offensive, Romanian aviation carried out 510 sorties, flying 610 hours and dropping about 200 tons of bombs. The pilots bombed nine prefabricated trains, three trains with fuel, three important bridges and a large number of pieces of equipment. The reports of the Romanian pilots were reflected in the operational reports of the command of the Soviet 27th combined arms and 5th air armies.

After several days of respite, Romanian aviation resumed combat operations, and now combat sorties were carried out in the area of ​​​​the city of Rozhnava. Soviet troops entered Roznava on the night of January 22, and a garrison of 1,700 Hungarian and German soldiers surrendered. The weather did not allow the use of aircraft until February 15. The Romanians used the three weeks of “vacation” to relocate from Miskolc to Lucinec, closer to the front. On February 15, the commander of the 41st squadron, Lazar Muntyatnu, performed two weather reconnaissance flights (on an Hs-129 with tail numbers 336 and 331). Later that day, the Zvolen, Brezno and Hayanačka railway stations were attacked by 26 aircraft, which dropped 8 tons of bombs. Adjutant Stefan Puskács destroyed the locomotive and four carriages with cannon fire. His Henschel was damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but Puskach made it to the Luchinets airfield, and after landing, 14 holes were counted in the attack aircraft. In total, during the war, Pushkač had to make five forced landings, and once behind the front line, and the pilot was lucky every time! After the war, Puskač remained in socialist Romania, and made an excellent political career.

The next day, Hs-129 attack aircraft and Ju-87 dive bombers attacked the railway stations of Kremnica, Hronska Breznica and Hajanaczka. The Soviet command gave the order to the 40th combined arms and 4th Romanian armies to go on the offensive and with decisive actions to press the German troops to the eastern bank of the Hron River, the start date of the operation was set on February 24. At 19.00 on February 20, the commander of the 5th Air Army, General Ermachenko, and the chief of staff of the 40th Army, General Sharapov, arrived at the command post of the 1st Romanian Air Corps. The generals discussed the plan for upcoming actions with Romanian officers. On the morning of February 21, guidance officers of the 1st Air Corps of the Romanian Air Force moved to forward observation posts to study the terrain in detail and prepare the data necessary for planning air strikes. In a speech to Romanian pilot technicians, the Soviet general, in particular, said an interesting phrase: “... we hope that our Romanian comrades will not let us down.”

Direct air support for the advancing troops was assigned exclusively to the Romanian Air Force. Bad weather delayed the start of combat operations by one day. On February 25, the sky cleared of clouds and the planes were able to take off. This day is marked in the history of the Romanian Air Force with unusually high activity, victories and losses. In 148 sorties, Romanian pilots dropped 35 tons of bombs on German positions in the Ochova-Detva-Zvolesnka Slatina triangle. The pilots reported three destroyed half-track armored vehicles, one self-propelled artillery mount, two cars, five horse-drawn carriages and eight machine gun nests, and many enemy soldiers and officers killed. While attacking ground targets, Adjutant Viktor Dumbrava's Henschel received a direct hit from an anti-aircraft gun; the pilot barely pulled it across the front line and crashed into an emergency landing near Detva.

The 25th was also a busy day for the fighters. On the fifth mission of this day, Captain Cantacuzino and his wingman adj took off. Traian Dрjan. Above the front line they discovered eight Fw-190Fs storming Soviet troops. Without hesitation, they rushed into battle, one by one. It was not difficult for Cantacuzino to shoot down one attack aircraft, but a flight of “Messers” from I./JG 53 took advantage of the carelessness of the Romanians. Squadron commander Hauptmann Helmut Lipfert shot down Trajan, and the rest took care of the captain. Dryan apparently died in the air (the irony is that it was Lipfert who “put” Trajan “on the wing” - he was his instructor during the squadron’s deployment to the Tiraspol airfield). Cantacuzino fell near the Romanian positions and returned to his airfield by car the next day. He talked about what happened, but he did not actually see the shooting down of his wingman and stated: “Trajan must have been shot down.”

The second victory of the day (and the last in World War II) was won by Romanian fighters during a battle with the Bf-109K. Its author was adj. Constantin Nicoara. No aircraft were lost, but two were damaged.

The intensity of air strikes by Romanian aviation decreased slightly the next day. By evening it began to rain, and visibility decreased to 100 meters. In the last days of February, the air temperature reached +4 degrees, constant rains and melting snow turned the airfields into a sea of ​​water and mud, and aviation could not operate until March 4. On March 4, combat missions resumed. Grupul 8 Asalt/Picaj aircraft took to the air eight times (15 sorties). The targets of the Henschel strikes were German positions in the Zvolen-Lishkovets-Zsolna triangle. The Junkers also operated in the same area and suffered losses. In the Ivanka area at 20:45 (Moscow time), Lieutenant Sereda from the 178th IAP shot down a “thing”, which, according to his report, was German. In reality, he shot down a Romanian plane; fortunately, the crew managed to use parachutes.

On March 6, the target of the raids was the Zvolen railway station, troop columns, and artillery positions 2 km from Zvolen. The Romanians finally suppressed the German artillery batteries on March 7 with two air raids from Grupul 8 Asalt/Picaj (the Henschels flew combat missions in threes that day). In the third raid, three Hs-129s destroyed a convoy on the street of the village of Slyach.

The morning of March 8 for Romanian pilots began with the clink of faceted glasses raised in honor of International Women's Day, into which a clear liquid with a pungent odor was poured. The celebration did not last long; a few minutes after the toast was made, the pilots took their seats in the cockpits of their aircraft. The targets have not changed: Zvolen, Zholna, five machine-gun nests at height 391 near Zholna.

There were no flights on March 10 due to bad weather. On March 11, the Henschels made 21 sorties (five group sorties). Lieutenant Munteanu made four combat missions that day (all on the Hs-129 with tail number 228), Munteanu flew to Zvolen, Montova, Zholna and again to Zvolen.

On March 13, weather conditions deteriorated again; the weather did not allow aviation to operate for ten days.

On March 22, General Traian Bardulu took command of the 1st Romanian Air Corps, replacing General Emmanuel Ionescu, who became Minister of Aviation in the government of Petru Grosu. The change of corps commander had almost no effect on the daily life and combat work of the personnel. On the day of the change of command, eight Hs-129s stormed the highway west of Zvolen. Romanian aircraft bombed the car park in Kovačov, and ten horse-drawn carts were destroyed on the streets of Zvolen.

On March 23, 24 and 25, the weather confined the Henschel to the ground. On March 26, only two sorties were flown. But on that day, two Romanian pilots flying a Bf-109G deserted to the nearest German airbase.

It was on March 26 that the city of Zvolen was liberated by Soviet-Romanian troops. The total retreat of the Germans from Slovakia began. After crossing the Gron River, the offensive of the Soviet troops successfully developed in a western direction. Improved weather allowed Romanian aviation to begin combat work again. The iron strike fist of the command of the 1st Romanian Air Corps consisted of attack aircraft and dive bombers of the 8th group. Precision aircraft strikes on the enemy cleared the way for ground forces.

On April 1, four Henschels twice attacked retreating German columns on the highway leading from Levin to the west; the planes destroyed 11 horse-drawn carts and five trucks. On April 2, the Romanians carried out 19 sorties to attack the military echelon at the Nemanka station and the artillery battery located near the station. IAR-81Cs attacked two trains north of Kremnitz and damaged one of the locomotives.

On April 3, the only combat flight was made by a trio of Hs-129s; the planes attacked cars in the area of ​​the village of Yalovets. During the raid, Lieutenant Antonescu's plane was hit in the right engine. A plume of smoke trailed behind the engine and flames appeared. Antonescu immediately made an emergency landing. The plane had to be written off after landing, but the pilot escaped with bruises and bumps - the durable armored capsule survived the collision with the ground.

On April 4, two four Henschels struck a concentration of German vehicles and military equipment in the Brezhno area, destroying six pieces of equipment. Towards evening, eight Hs-129s attacked the Brezhno railway station, the pilots reported that a steam locomotive and four carriages were destroyed as a result of the attack.

On April 5, twin-engine attack aircraft appeared over Bodorova. The planes left behind 15 burning carts and the same number of wrecked cars.

On April 6, the aircraft of the 1st Romanian Air Corps were relocated to Zvolen airfield. Flight times in the White Carpathians and Low Tatras region have been reduced. The first combat flights from Zvolen were made against Kosice, Belusha, and Nozdrovica. On April 7, Pukhov, Belusha and Kosice were subjected to air strikes.

On April 11-13, Romanian aviation operated in the areas of Nemcova, Rajec, Zilina, Poluvsi, over the Slovak-Moravian border. The next day, planes did not fly due to bad weather.

As dawn broke on April 15, the weather improved and air attacks resumed. Three waves of Henschels (18 aircraft) bombed and stormed the highway leading to Makov, and the Nizhna and Shumitsa railway stations. Five and a half tons of bombs were dropped, and the pilots reported 30 wrecked cars, two trains and one steam locomotive. Adjutant Vasile Pescu suffered internal injuries as a result of exceeding the permissible overload at the exit from the dive. Pescu managed to return to base. Friends pulled the injured pilot from the cockpit of the attack aircraft and immediately sent him to the hospital. The 20-year-old guy, who had completed 225 combat missions by that time, remained disabled for life.

On Monday, April 16, the Minister of Defense of Romania, General Vasile Rasceanu, visited the front and personally presented awards to those who distinguished themselves. Before the minister’s eyes, two trios of Hs-129s, led by squadron commander Lazar Munteanu, went on a combat mission. Over Banov, his plane was hit in the right plane of the wing, as a result of which the fuel tank exploded and the engine failed. On one engine he pulled Munteanu across the Vas River and landed at the Trencin airfield, which had just been abandoned by the retreating Germans. During the rough landing, the car received additional damage, and Munteanu himself was injured. The plane and pilot immediately came under fire from small arms and mortars from the right bank of the Vash. The life of the Romanian pilot was saved by the commander of the Soviet artillery battery, Lieutenant Tunev, who, on his orders, opened hurricane fire along the borders of the airfield, preventing the Germans from approaching the plane. The lieutenant personally pulled Munteana to safety, from where the commander of the Romanian assault squadron was sent to the hospital. Munteanu's wounds turned out to be not dangerous - on April 21 he returned to his unit.

On April 17, the pilots of the 41st Squadron flew into battle four times without their commander. 16 “Henschels” used bombs and shells to strike at the concentration of enemy infantry and equipment, first in the area of ​​​​Dritomny, then in the Hungarian Brod, Prakshittsi and Korytne. Near Korytnaya, attack aircraft scattered a column of 60 horse-drawn carts and 30 cars.

Romanian ground services began restoring the Trencin airfield right under enemy fire, but bad weather prevented the relocation of aircraft here. For several days, aviation carried out only reconnaissance flights. Only on April 20, five Hs-129Bs were able to strike Korytnya; the planes suppressed a mortar battery located on the edge of the forest southwest of the village.

On April 21, a trio of Henschels in one flight first struck German positions in the Dolne Nemchi area, then struck Slavkov. In the next three, the weather worsened again, only once did four Hs-129Bs manage to bomb Dolna Nemchi. On the same day, the IAR-81C pilots distinguished themselves again - thanks to improved weather, they completed 31 combat missions. During the day, 11 trucks and many infantry were recorded destroyed. But this success was paid for by the death of av. Gheorghe Mociornita (IAR-81C no. 426), whose aircraft was shot down by air defense. There were two and a half weeks left until the end of the war...

The combat statistics of the Henschels in the period from March 25 to April 24, 1945 are as follows: 160 sorties were carried out (34 group combat sorties) with a total duration of 177 hours 20 minutes; 48.9 tons of bombs were dropped, 122 cars, 91 horse-drawn carts, 4 trains, 3 artillery positions, 1 tank and 1 bridge were destroyed. Romanian aviation did not take part in air battles due to the complete absence of enemy aircraft in the air. Losses amounted to two Hs-129B.

With the arrival of spring, it became clear to everyone that the end of the war was just around the corner, but the finale had not yet arrived. On April 26, the area of ​​active operations by aircraft of the 8th group became Hungarian Brod. Three Henschels bombed and stormed the city eight times. All combat missions of the group were led by Lieutenant Munteanu, who on that day flew an aircraft with tail number 222B. Eight raids on the Hungarian Broad were carried out by dive bombers from the fraternal Escadrile 74 Picaj. The first time on April 26, the planes took off at 7 a.m., the target of the attack was a bridge near the village of Sucha Lozh. The attack aircraft were covered by IAR-81 fighters, but since there were no enemy aircraft in the sky, they joined the Henschels, which attacked the bridge. The bridge was seriously damaged. During the day, attack aircraft attacked enemy positions in the areas of the settlements Sucha Lozh, Hungarian Brod, Dolne Nemchi, and three times Hs-129 stormed artillery positions near Nivinitsa. During the day, the Henschels dropped 72 tons of bombs and carried out 57 sorties. Pilots of the 2nd Fighter Group completed 68 missions, firing 23,100 bullets and 4,140 shells. As usual, there were losses - Adj died on the IAR-81C. av. Constantin Prisacar. The German anti-aircraft gunners, who by the end of the war had rich combat experience, distinguished themselves again.

On April 27, in an order on the occasion of the liberation of Hungarian Brod, the Soviet command noted: “The capture of the city became possible only thanks to the actions of aviation.”

On the same day, ten Henschels attacked Tishnov in three waves. On April 28, aircraft did not fly; on April 29, the Romanians bombed and stormed enemy columns on the roads in the vicinity of Dobikovtsy. On April 30, Romanian planes dropped 2,100 kg of bombs on the villages of Nidachlebitsy and Bojkovitsy.

On April 27, the last Junkers aircraft in the war was shot down. In the Dobikovice area, the plane was shot down by German anti-aircraft gunners. Pilot Adjutant Paul Lazaroiu was able to use a parachute and was captured, and his rear gunner (Sergeant George Popescu) was killed.

In April, according to official data, the Messers of the 9th IAG carried out 225 combat missions.

On the first day of May 1945, aircraft flew despite heavy rain. During one of the raids, four Henschels scattered an infantry column southwest of Olomouc. On May 2, the attention of Romanian pilots was attracted by the Holisov railway station. Raids on the station and the city continued on May 4 and 5.

On May 6, the last offensive operation of the war in Europe began - a push towards Prague. Romanian aviation supported the ground forces advancing on Protea. On May 7, Romanian pilots managed to destroy 15 vehicles northwest of Proteev.

On May 8, pilots stormed columns of enemy troops and equipment on the roads in the vicinity of Urczyce and Vysovitsa. The 2nd Fighter Group lost its last pilot in the war - it was SLT. av. Remus Vasilescu.

On May 9, 1945, only IAR-39 biplanes took off under the escort of Messerschmitts, which scattered leaflets. The Germans surrendered without offering resistance.

However, the war ended a little later for Romanian aviators. On May 11, the Romanians carried out attacks on units of the Russian Liberation Army of General Vlasov. The Vlasovites had nothing to lose, and they desperately resisted in the forests near the Hungarian Ford. On the evening of May 11, 1945, the planes (several bombers covered by four Bf-109Gs) returned from the last combat mission of the Romanian Air Force in the Second World War. Romanian pilots fought over the territory of Czechoslovakia for 144 days.

In total, until the end of the war (on May 12, 1945), the 1st Corps accounted for 8542 sorties and the destruction of 101 enemy aircraft (including anti-aircraft gunners). Losses amounted to 176 aircraft, shot down by fighters, air defenses and broken up in numerous accidents in bad weather conditions in the winter and spring of 1945.

There is specific data only on the participation of “henschels”; for the rest, the data is fragmentary. So, during five months of hostilities, from December 19, 1944 to May 11, 1945, the pilots of the 41st attack squadron ("Henschels") flew 422 sorties, flying 370 hours and dropping 130 tons of bombs. As a result of the squadron's actions, 66 columns of enemy troops were scattered, 185 cars and 66 horse-drawn carts were destroyed, at railway stations the Henschel pilots destroyed 13 trains, among other enemy property destroyed - artillery pieces, mortars, machine guns. The squadron lost eight HS-129B attack aircraft. Stuka pilots in Slovakia alone made 107 combat missions, logging 374 hours of flight time. They dropped 210 tons of bombs on 37 railway stations and 36 enemy positions. The destroyed ones included 3 tanks, 61 trucks and 6 anti-aircraft batteries.

During the entire war, the Romanian Air Force lost 4,172 people, of which 2,977 were fighting for Germany (972 dead, 1,167 wounded and 838 missing) and 1,195 fighting against Germany (356, 371 and 468, respectively).

The Royal Romanian Air Force met the end of the war in even worse condition than on June 22, 1941. In fact, aviators were left alone with their problems in the face of a complete cessation of supplies of spare parts for aircraft. The future was vague...

2. Magazines "Modelism" (Romania) for different years

3. Dénes Bernád, "Rumanian Air Force, the prime decade 1938-1947", Squadron/Signal Publications, 1999

At dawn on June 22, 1941, when Germany, violating the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of 1939, attacked the USSR, the army of fascist Romania immediately launched military operations against the Red Army along the Prut and Danube. In a number of places, German-Romanian troops crossed to the left bank of the Prut, trying to capture strongholds of border outposts, as well as highway and railway bridges. Aircraft taking off from Romanian territory attacked Soviet cities and villages.

On the Soviet-Romanian border, the fascist command concentrated three armies (11th German, 3rd and 4th Romanian) and a number of other units, the total number of which exceeded 600 thousand people. More than half of this army were Romanian soldiers and officers. According to the Romanian General Staff, in July 1941, the number of army personnel under arms was about 700 thousand people, including 342 thousand soldiers and officers directly at the front. As J. Antonescu later noted in one of his conversations with the German General Hansen, Romania fielded significantly more divisions when entering the war against the USSR than the German command required of it.

In their addresses to the army, King Mihai and J. Antonescu declared the war against the USSR “sacred.” The soldiers were told that they were fulfilling the historical mission of “liberating their brothers” and defending “the church and European civilization from Bolshevism.” Without hoping, apparently, that the pompous words “about the liberation of their brothers”, “defense of civilization”, etc. will inspire hundreds of thousands of ordinary Romanian peasants, dressed in soldier’s overcoats, to feats of arms, M. Antonescu. appointed on the first day of the war as vice-premier of the government, and a few days later as minister of foreign affairs, announced in a speech on the radio that on “the conquered lands, peasant hands will find, thanks to fair reforms, due reward for the blood shed in the name of these lands.” Circular No. 1500/A was distributed in the army, which stated that “military units must compile named lists of distinguished officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who deserve to be allocated land. Lists must be compiled by military units every 15 days.”

In the very first days of the war, the Soviet government warned Royal Romania about the consequences of its participation in Hitler’s aggression against the USSR. G. Gafenku in his book reproduces a conversation he had on June 24, 1941 with the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov. The latter, according to Gafencu, said that “Romania had no right to violate peace with the USSR.” After the settlement of the Bessarabian issue, the Soviet government repeatedly stated its desire to improve relations between the two countries and to have a “peace-loving and independent Romania” on its border. The Soviet People's Commissar noted that the Italo-German “guarantees” meant “the end of Romanian independence,” followed by the occupation of the country by German troops. Stressing at the end of the conversation that Romania “had no reason to join the aggression of German bandits against the USSR,” V.M. Molotov warned the Romanian envoy that his government would have to bear responsibility for the consequences of this aggression and that it would regret what it had done. But the government of fascist Romania did not heed these warnings.

Romania greeted the war against the USSR with satisfaction and approved the actions of General J. Antonescu. King Michael, in a telegram sent to the conductor who was at the front, expressed gratitude for the “joy of the days of past glory” brought. M. Antonescu, choking with delight, exclaimed in his radio speech: “Today the general is the country, the general is our future.” The chairman of the National Tsaranist Party, J. Maniu, in his letters to J. Antonescu dated July 11 and 18, 1941, called for a fight “for a great Romania with all its provinces.” He expressed confidence in the victory of the fascist armies and the hope that it would lead to the “fall of the Bolshevik regime” and “the return of Russia to the system of private property.” On the second day of the war, the deputy chairman of the NLP, I. Mihalache, demonstratively “volunteered” for the army, followed by the deputy chairman of the NLP, G. Brătianu, who received Hitler’s awards. Characterizing the position of I. Mihalache, C. Argetoianu wrote in his diary in 1941: “...Baron de Topoloveni (as he ironically called I. Mihalache - I.L.) is aware that before the British win, it is necessary to destroy Russia, which we cannot liquidate except with the help of the Germans.” Argetoianu himself, having learned about the vast Soviet territories promised by Hitler to his country for participation in the war against the USSR, wrote with delight in his diary: “I am writing and asking myself: is this not a dream?”

It should be said that at the beginning of the war, under the influence of the nationalistic frenzy created by fascist propaganda, some layers of the petty bourgeoisie, who hoped to profit from the war, and some of the soldiers who believed the promises of allocating them land in the conquered territory, also showed militant sentiments. Regarding the latter, V. Adam wrote: “Some of them, presumably, were tempted by the land in Bessarabia and in the territory between the Dniester and the Bug, which Hitler promised Marshal Antonescu, dubbing it Transnistria.

Militant sentiments were largely supported by the myth of the invincibility of the Wehrmacht and boastful promises of a quick victory. P. Cirnoaga admits that many Romanian officers and soldiers believed “in the power of the German army”, they were convinced that “the war would be short-lived and victorious, with advancement into Russian territory there would be an uprising against the communist regime...”. In reality, everything turned out differently.

In Bessarabian, as in all other sectors of the Soviet-German front, German-Romanian troops encountered stubborn resistance from the Red Army and Soviet border guards. The task set by Hitler to create “bridgeheads east of the Prut” by the end of June could not be achieved. As noted in the report of the Political Propaganda Directorate (UPP) of the Southern Front for the period from June 22 to June 30, 1941, “attempts by German-Romanian troops to cross the Prut were repulsed with significant losses for the enemy, and the state border, with the exception of Skulyan, which the Germans managed to capture; firmly held by our troops."

In the June battles on the Soviet-Romanian border, the Romanian army suffered especially heavy losses. On July 1, 1941, on the ninth day of the war, the police, not without alarm, reported to Bucharest that wounded Romanian soldiers “appear at railway stations in the windows of cars in bloody shirts or show their wounds” and thereby “influence the mood of soldiers of other units, heading to their regiments." Large losses also had a negative impact on the morale of the population. The police were instructed to “give them a good reception and encourage them” during the arrival of trains with the wounded, and to prohibit “private persons” from accessing the platform.

At the beginning of July 1941, German-Romanian troops went on the offensive on the Bessarabian sector of the front. The day before (July 1) in a letter addressed to Hitler. J. Antonescu expressed “confidence that final victory is already close” and assured that the offensive operation on the Romanian sector of the front “should lead to the final destruction of the Soviet armed forces on the southern flank.”

Having created a great superiority in troops and equipment in the Mogilev-Podolsk and Beltsy directions, the enemy army managed to advance forward in the first ten days of July. Due to the difficult situation created at the junction of the Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviet command of the Southern Front decided to withdraw the right-flank units of the 18th Army to the Khotyn-Lipkani line. During July 5–12, German-Romanian troops occupied the cities of Chernivtsi, Balti, Soroki, Khotyn and reached the Dniester in this area. On July 12, General Voiculescu was appointed “general Antonescu’s representative” for the administration of Bessarabia, and Colonel Riosheanu - Bukovina. In the directive he sent, M. Antonescu emphasized that in these territories “before the signing of the decree on annexation, a regime of military occupation is established.” In a press statement, he announced that "traces of communism will be uprooted."

In connection with this, the “authorized” conductor and military administration in the occupied territory set as the primary task of “cleansing the territory of communists, removing the Bolsheviks, unreliable elements and Jews”, and only then conducting a “preliminary census of all property and owners”, taking into account the situation before June 28, 1940, “taking measures to harvest”, declared “the property of the Romanian state”, immediate withdrawal of Soviet money at the equivalent of one ruble - one leu.

The conductor who visited Balti on July 17 gave additional instructions to the occupation administration. Here are some of them in the form in which they were written down by subordinates: “Restore the roads with the help of the population. Labor conscription should also be introduced in the conquered territories. With the slightest resistance from the population, shoot on the spot. The names of those executed should be published... The population of Bessarabia should be subjected to verification; those who are suspicious and those who oppose us must be destroyed... Not a single Jew should remain in villages and towns, they should be interned in camps...” Terror and mass extermination of Soviet citizens, mockery of them were elevated by the rulers of military-fascist Romania to the rank of official policy.

In the spirit of these instructions, the Romanian fascists, sometimes themselves, and sometimes together with the SS men, bursting into one or another populated area, organized a hunt for communists, exterminating thousands of people without trial or investigation, including children, women, and the elderly. The indictment in the case of the main Romanian war criminals contains the following facts about the atrocities of the occupiers: “On July 8, 1941, the entire Jewish population was gathered in the town of Marculesti, Soroca district. Men, women and children were taken to the outskirts of the village, shot and buried in anti-tank ditches. 1000 people were killed in this way. In the following days, they did the same in Floresti, Gura-Kamenka, Gura-Kainary. In the village of Klimautsi, Soroca district, 300 children, women and men were rounded up and on July 12, 1941 they were shot and buried on the outskirts of the village in a common pit...” From the very first day of the occupation, mass executions were carried out in Bukovina.

Bloody battles were still taking place in the central and southern regions of Moldova and in the Izmail region of Ukraine at that time. Attempts by the German-Romanian troops, who launched an offensive in the Chisinau direction in the first days of July, to capture the capital of Moldova immediately failed. Summing up the results of the battles in this direction in the first ten days of July 1941, the chief of staff of the ground forces of the Nazi army, Colonel General Halder, wrote in his office diary: “Attacks on the right flank of von Schobert’s army apparently caused a significant weakening of the Romanian formations. The command of the 11th Army reports that it considers these formations unfit for further offensive. A “new operation” against Chisinau is needed.” Only during one counterattack of the 90th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Moldavian Infantry Division in the Nisporena-Bykovets area were the 63rd Artillery and 67th Infantry Regiments of the Romanian Army almost completely defeated, and on July 8th and 9th as a result of a counter-offensive operation 241 The 15th and 55th Romanian infantry regiments inflicted heavy damage on the 15th and 55th Romanian infantry regiments of the same division. The offensive operations of the 4th Romanian Army in the Falciu-Leca-Epureni area in order to support the attack on Chisinau from the south ended unsuccessfully. During July 5–12, fierce fighting took place in this area. Units of the Soviet 14th Rifle Corps inflicted heavy damage to the enemy group at Falciu in manpower and equipment, preventing it from moving forward.

The stubborn resistance of the Red Army, sudden counterattacks by Soviet troops, which, according to the Romanian colonel captured on July 8, 1941, “had a stunning effect” on the Romanian troops and caused “complete panic,” awakened anti-war sentiments among ordinary soldiers. Among the documents captured from the Romanian regiment destroyed in the battles on the Bessarabian sector of the front, there is circular No. 81, which states that “some soldiers, instead of being in battle, evade, hide and return to their units only after the end of the battle...” 3. In another document signed by the commander of this regiment, Simeonescu, and the officer Chumike. it is noted that “self-mutilation occurs in the regiment in order to evade the war (an incident that occurred with soldier Theodor Vasiliu from the 3rd company, who was shot in the leg by soldier Esanu V.).” At the end of the circular, Simeonescu menacingly demands that “both the wounded and those who were wounded be brought before a military court.”

The rebuff met by the German-Romanian troops from the Red Army on the border and between the Prut and Dniester rivers gave pause to many officers who had previously hoped for an easy victory. Just over a month after the start of the war, the secret police reported to Bucharest: “There is some concern among the career officers due to the death of many of them at the front.” And in the mentioned circular of Colonel Simeonescu it is directly stated: “I found with bitterness that in the operations that took place there were many violations of their duty on the part of the officers subordinate to me.” And although the Romanian press still continued to trumpet the “imminent victory,” notes of concern began to appear on its pages. The weekly “Raza” (“Ray”), which at the beginning of July wrote with full confidence that “the days of the Bolshevik regime are numbered” and “the victory of the civilized world... is already assured,” in the middle of the same month began talking about the fact that many had hoped in vain for a quick end to hostilities in Bessarabia, that the Russians will not fight, but from the very first days of the war they will surrender en masse.”

Along with the calculations about the weakness of the Red Army, hopes that after the first blows of the fascist troops conflicts would arise between the Russian and non-Russian peoples also collapsed. Romanian soldiers and officers, into whom fascist propaganda drummed into their heads the idea that they were “liberators,” were convinced of something else. The overwhelming majority of the population did not greet them as “liberators” at all. During the battles in June-July 1941, Romanian soldiers and officers saw how very often, together with soldiers of the Red Army, destroyer battalions and militia units from the local population fought against fascist troops, tens of thousands of residents dug trenches, built defensive structures, and provided other assistance Soviet troops.

Despite heavy losses, on July 16, German-Romanian troops managed to capture the city of Chisinau. On July 17, by order of headquarters, the withdrawal of the 9th Army beyond the Dniester began. It was largely completed on July 22, and the 14th Rifle Corps completed the crossing to the left bank of the lower Dniester on July 26. The plans of the Nazi command to encircle and destroy Soviet troops between the Prut and Dniester rivers did not come true.

The rulers of Romania tried to use the access of their troops to the Dniester to raise a new wave of nationalism in the country and strengthen the dictatorship of Antonescu. The press praised the “victor general,” the “savior general” of the nation. The occupation administration was installed with great fanfare. Parades took place in Chisinau and Chernivtsi. The presence of the “plenipotentiary representative” of the Reich, Pflaumer, at all these ceremonies was supposed to emphasize that royal Romania was receiving Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina thanks to Germany.

Romanian fascist propaganda glorified the Romanian-German commonwealth with all its might. The entire press reproduced the words of the conductor, expressed in an interview with the Italian newspaper Tribuna, that “Romania fits perfectly into the new European order” and it is “forever with the Axis states.” The fascist leaflet of the Porunka Vremii declared the German-Romanian alliance to be nothing more and nothing less than an “axiom of the national existence” of the Romanian people. “He will henceforth,” the newspaper swore, “the permanent fixture of Romanian politics in the new Europe.”

On July 27, Hitler sent a letter to J. Antonescu. He congratulated the conductor on the “return of the provinces” and thanked him for his decision to fight “to the end on the side of Germany.” At the same time, he pointed out to him the areas of the front in Ukraine, where the Romanian army was to participate in battles, and offered to “carry guard” in the occupied territory. At the beginning of August, Hitler awarded J. Antonescu the Iron Cross.

Meanwhile, carried away by the official propaganda “about the Romanian revival,” fascist thugs continued to “wash away the shame of 1940” and “eradicate” communism by organizing mass executions of Soviet citizens.

According to the occupation authorities themselves, in this atmosphere of unbridled terror, “a sense of irresponsibility reigned, which fueled and aroused base instincts, and many plunged into a sea of ​​abuses.” In the newsletter of the Chisinau Police Questura dated August 19, 1941 we read. “The soldiers who arrived in the first days robbed houses, making no exception in relation to Christians, leaving many without movable property.” It is further said that some local residents were robbed right on the street: “... they were stopped and their valuables were taken away during a search.” Colonel Tudose, the first Romanian commandant of Nazi-occupied Chisinau, although trying to whitewash the Romanian army, was forced to admit that not only German units “committed acts of violence as conquerors, took away all the best and valuable things from warehouses and houses,” but also Romanian troops , supposedly “imitating” them, joined in these robberies that “the search for and appropriation of values ​​... was a general hobby.”

Conflicts often occurred over the division of loot between the “allies.” The same Tudose complained that the German units appropriated for themselves all the best that was found in the warehouses and enterprises of the occupied Soviet territory. Similar complaints were received from Northern Bukovina. On August 5, 1941, the ruler of Bukovina, Riosheanu, telegraphed to Bucharest that German soldiers, “having first opened fire with machine guns, removed the Romanian guards from various warehouses and loaded the vehicles with all sorts of things.”

Looting, like mass shootings, was legalized. As already noted, all agricultural products were declared “the property of the Romanian state”, and all livestock were “blocked”. The instructions to the army units and the occupation administration stated that the troops “will be supplied at the expense of their zone and nothing will be brought from Zaprutye”; it is necessary to “take on the spot everything that is needed, everything that is, without any ceremony; “bread and cattle must be confiscated from the population for the army”, “every house must be thoroughly searched and everything taken away without a trace”; “for concealing food, the slightest resistance is to be shot on the spot and the house to be burned.” The robbery, accompanied by the murder of Soviet citizens, assumed such proportions that the prefect of the Balti district, Colonel Hanciu, in a letter dated August 26, 1941 addressed to the ruler of Bessarabia, General Voiculescu, was forced to admit: “Bessarabia, sooner than could be expected, will be completely exposed.”

There are few statements characterizing the position of the Romanian authorities and their attitude towards the Bessarabians. And vice versa:

From the speech of I. Antonescu at a meeting of the Romanian government on July 8, 1941:“At the risk of being misunderstood by some traditionalists who may be among you, I advocate the forced migration of the entire Jewish element of Bessarabia and Bukovina, it must be pushed outside our borders. I am also in favor of the forced migration of the Ukrainian element, which has nothing to do here at the moment. I don't care if we go down in history as barbarians. The Roman Empire committed a series of barbaric acts against its contemporaries, and yet it was the most magnificent political system. There has never been a more opportune moment in our history. If necessary, fire machine guns."

From a memorandum from the Propaganda Directorate of the Governorate of Bessarabia to the Ministry of Propaganda of Romania dated July 4, 1942: “... First of all, it is necessary to introduce the idea of ​​​​the existence of a single Romanian state and a single Romanian nation living throughout the country, therefore, in Bessarabia... Since Bessarabia the peasant always considered himself a Moldavian, not a Romanian, and looked at people from the Old Kingdom with some disdain, which is a consequence of the fact that he was part of a great empire...”

Having occupied Bessarabia, the Romanian authorities confiscated all Soviet and Romanian identity cards. Instead, certificates of three colors were issued: for Romanians (Moldovans) - white, for national minorities - yellow, for Jews - green. Special numbers were also introduced to indicate the “loyalty” of residents to the Romanian regime.

By order of the Governor of Bessarabia of November 15, 1941, it was forbidden to speak in public places in a non-Romanian (meaning Russian) language. Speaking “in the language of the enemy” was punishable by imprisonment from one month to two years. Along with imprisonment, the court could sentence the “guilty” to a large fine and be deprived of the right to hold public office for six years.

However, the population continued to ignore the orders of the Romanian administration. The military courts were overwhelmed with cases of “criminals.”

From a report from the Chisinau police questura to the regional inspectorate:“Today, May 17, 1942, under relation No. 4205, we sent to the local prosecutor’s office of the military field court of the 3rd Army Corps a case with executed documents against Ivanov Trofim from Chisinau for the fact that the above-mentioned May 14 this year. g., while the honorary company marched ceremoniously in front of the Romanian and German authorities along the street. Sfatul Tsariy, heading to the cemetery of German heroes, stood with his head covered and his hands behind his back and did not salute the unit’s banner...”

From a report from the Chisinau Regional Police Inspectorate to the General Directorate of Police dated May 22, 1942:“Questura of the Chisinau police with relation No. 3511 dated 18.V. g. sent to the prosecutor's office of the Lapushnyansky Tribunal a case with executed documents against Kravarchuk Efim, who lives in the suburbs of Chisinau, Melestiu, st. No. 98, house No. 8, for the fact that he did not obey order No. 6 of the military command of the 3rd Army Corps dated 19.VIII 1941, because books in Russian were discovered in his house.”

From a report from the Orhei police to the Chisinau regional police inspectorate dated May 29, 1942:“In addition to our report No. 11,458 dated March 2, 1942, we have the honor to report that by verdict No. 1987 dated May 19, 1942, the Chisinau military court of the 3rd Army Corps accused Andrei Popushoy, living in Orhei on the street. St. Dumitru, N 77, a farmer by profession, was sentenced to three months of correctional imprisonment, and on the basis of Art. 326 of the Military Code to a fine of 200 lei for speaking the language of the enemies, punished on the basis of Art. 6 Order No. 5 dated December 16, 1941 of the 3rd Army Corps. We ask you to deign to decide whether he should be included in the list of suspicious persons.”

From a message from the Chisinau regional police inspectorate dated October 5, 1942:“A lively anxiety has recently been noticeable among Russians, caused by the fear of being sent to Transnistria. This mood arose mainly as a result of the implementation of certain measures by the authorities, such as: an inventory of the property of the Russian population and a ban on speaking Russian under threat of punishment. However, this national minority speaks Russian in the family circle, among friends or acquaintances, and, what is most dangerous, in public places without hesitation.”

From a message from the Bendery police to the Chisinau regional police inspectorate dated July 23, 1942:“In connection with foreign policy events, part of the population does not show any joy about the successes of the Axis. Some in this category secretly express optimism and confidence in the Russian victory. They whisper that the Germans themselves admit that if the war drags on until winter, then “the Germans will be kaput.”

From the order of the Governorate of Bessarabia dated June 6, 1942:“It has been established that from the moment of the reconquest of Bessarabia to the present day, in schools, government institutions, and unfortunately, in villages, some customs and trends have not yet been renounced, which prove a complete misunderstanding of the spirit of the present time and the program of general Romanization, the implementation of which is the first place in terms of our concerns today. These trends are manifested in the use of Russian names by students, employees and even villagers, who replace purely Romanian names with their equivalents in Russian. Students, employees and some peasants continue to call themselves instead of Dumitru, Vasile, Ion, Constantine, Mihai, etc. - Mitya, Vasya, Vanya, Kostya, Misha, etc. But the saddest and most incomprehensible thing is that this anomaly It is also noted among the majority of purely Moldavian families, who, for unknown reasons, persistently use Russian names, thus preserving the Russian spirit in a sober and active state. The elimination of these bad habits is the first and foremost task in carrying out the general and mandatory Romanianization of the spirit, mood and atmosphere in Bessarabia.”

In April 1942, Governor C. Voiculescu admitted that his order banning speaking Russian was being ignored even by Moldovan employees: “Little by little, the old system of excluding the Romanian language from use by civil servants born in Bessarabia was resumed, the use of the Russian language is again becoming a custom . Russian speech is constantly heard in the halls and offices of institutions [...]. On the streets, in shops, and public places, the Russian language predominates. What is especially regrettable is that there have been cases when priests yield to the insistence of believers and conduct services in Russian.” The governor stated that “Bessarabians have retained genuine nostalgia for the “Russians of old.”

In April 1942, the General Directorate of Police of Romania reported that “peasants who, under the communist system in the rural settlements of Bessarabia, were members of village councils, continue to challenge and threaten the local authorities, claiming that they will punish them when the communists return to this area,” mentioning 6 names of residents of the Moldovan village of Singer, Lapushnyansky district, who “are currently conducting propaganda in favor of the Soviets and threatening the authorities.”

The attempt of the occupation authorities to mobilize among the Bessarabians failed. By the beginning of the war, 7.8 thousand natives of Bessarabia, mostly Moldovans, mobilized before June 28, 1940, served in the Romanian army. The Romanian command avoided using them at the front. In the spring of 1943, another 8.8 thousand Bessarabians were mobilized. In the spring of 1944, from 2 to 10% of conscripts obeyed the mobilization order, the rest disappeared.

From the verdict of the military court in the case of Moldovan soldiers who refused the oath to the Romanian state on March 20, 1943: “... Bessarabian soldiers, mobilized for training and refusing to take the oath of allegiance, were sent with the completed documents to the Chisinau military court 3rd Territorial Army Corps."

The military court sentenced 11 Moldovans from the villages of Riscani and Zaicani, Balti district, and one from the village. Mandyk of the Soroca district, condemning them to 25 years of hard labor with confiscation of property and demotion.

From the report of the Governorate of Bessarabia to the Cabinet of Ministers of Romania dated February 18, 1944:“February 1 of this year. From the Focsani station, a detachment of the 20th Dorabantsy and 53rd infantry regiments, consisting of 189 Bessarabians, set off to their destination - Odessa. The detachment was equipped with military uniforms, but without weapons... Only 88 people reached Odessa, and on the second day another 71. 30 are currently missing.”