Maria Antonescu
Maria Antonescu | |
---|---|
Wife of the Conducător of Romania | |
In office 6 September 1940 – 23 August 1944 | |
President of the Social Works Patronage Council | |
In office 20 November 1940[a] – 23 August 1944 | |
Monarch | Michael I |
Preceded by | None |
Succeeded by | None |
Personal details | |
Born | Maria Niculescu 3 November 1892 Romanian People's Republic |
Spouses |
|
Children | 1 |
Nickname | Rica Antonescu |
Conviction(s) | Embezzlement (1950) |
Criminal penalty |
|
a. ^ formally 10 April 1941[1] | |
Maria Antonescu (born Maria Niculescu, also known as Maria General Antonescu, later Maria Mareșal Antonescu, or Rica Antonescu; 3 November 1892 – 18 October 1964) was a Romanian socialite and philanthropist and the wife of
Arrested soon after the August 1944 coup which overthrew her husband, Maria Antonescu was briefly a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union, and, after a period of uncertainty, tried and sentenced by the new communist regime on charges of economic crimes (embezzlement). Imprisoned for five years and afterward included in the Bărăgan deportations, she spent the final years of her life under internal exile at Bordușani.
Biography
Early life
Born in
Having divorced from Fueller in 1926 and married Antonescu, Romania's former
In 1938, when the relationship between Ion Antonescu and
Early war years
In late 1940, as a result of a
Nevertheless, at the very start of 1941, Maria Antonescu joined the board of Regina Elisabeta Society, a welfare organization chaired by Queen Helen.[12] She also took over a new state-run charity, Sprijinul ("The Support"), which reputedly made her a contender in the conflict opposing her husband to the Guard, before the Legionary Rebellion of early 1941 brought the Guard's downfall. According to Spanish historian Francisco Veiga, her humanitarian effort was endorsed by the more conservative pro-Antonescu factions in reaction to Guardist projects such as Ajutorul Legionar.[13] Sprijinul ensured participation from Veturia Goga.[13] They were also joined by the wife of World War I hero, General Constantin Prezan,[6] and by Sanda Manuilă.[3][14][15]
As a mark of emancipation after the 1941 Rebellion, Elvira Sima was formally purged, and accused (falsely) of having
The council's establishment coincided with Romania's participation in
During the early months of 1941, the Iron Guard having been successfully repressed, Maria Antonescu and Veturia Goga coaxed support for the regime from the old establishment parties (although nominally outlawed since Carol II's rule, these were cautiously tolerated by Antonescu). Official newspapers publicized their visit to Topoloveni, a former fief of the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), where they met with PNȚ leader Ion Mihalache. The event was organized by Admiral Dan Zaharia, who was simultaneously a PNȚ cadre and a friend of her husband's.[20] Although she refrained from overt political statements, Maria Antonescu gave praise to Mihalache as a community and civil society leader.[21] The pro-Allied PNȚ leader, Iuliu Maniu, saw in this an attempt by Antonescu to co-opt Mihalache as a minister. His immediate response was to dissuade Mihalache from "compromising himself" with such affiliations.[21] For her part, Maria Antonescu alternated such displays of traditionalism with the public endorsement for fascist causes. In July 1941, she was an official guest at the Anti-Masonry Exhibit in Bucharest.[22]
Antisemitic plunder and spoils of war
With the continuation of war on the Eastern Front, the Social Works Patronage Council took it upon itself to look after the needs of first-line soldiers and their families, as well as to protect a special category of vulnerable individuals: the IOVR (invalids, orphans, widows).[16] By December 1941, it had raised and spent some 25 million lei for the needs of men under arms and 138 million for the wounded; 9.7 million for families of active duty soldiers, and 17 million for invalids, widows or orphans.[16]
Romania's participation in the war came with the generalization of antisemitic measures and the massive deportations of the Jews to occupied Transnistria, a process initiated by her husband, and marked by events in which she herself was implicated (see
Such arbitrary confiscations inaugurated a chain of supply for the Patronage Council. In August 1942, the Jewish entrepreneurs
This type of abuse also touched other communities. Thus, among the special provisions ordered by Governor
Lecca himself later stated: "The need for extra-budgetary money was continuously rising", arguing that, in addition to pressures from the part of Mihai Antonescu and German Ambassador
It was also as a result of her intercession that Romania's
Detention, sentencing and final years
The Antonescus' status changed dramatically after King Michael and opposition forces carried out the
In March 1945, Maria Antonescu was taken into custody by the
According to conflicting accounts, she was simply allowed to go free,[35] or detained at Malmaison prison before her declining health made the authorities commit her to Nicolae Gh. Lupu's clinic, ultimately assigning her house arrest in a Bucharest lodging she shared with her mother.[3] She lacked the means to support herself, and was cared for by her friends and family.[3][35] After his People's Court trial and just prior to his June 1946 execution for war crimes, Ion Antonescu met his wife one final time, handing her his watch with the request that she imagine "it is my heart beating", and never let it stop.[6]
Again arrested in 1950, she was indicted by the
After her release from prison, Maria Antonescu was assigned "obligatory domicile" on the
The Ialomița area is characterized by weather extremes. Maria Antonescu complained that
Legacy
The Antonescus were
During her husband's years in power, the official press made Maria Antonescu the object of reverence, prompting speculation that she was vying for popularity with Queen Helen.[9] She was the sole subject of two nationally released films, and an obligatory presence on weekly newsreels.[17] Another propaganda film about Romanian charities was censored and had to be redone, because officials felt that it shed too much positive light on the Red Cross, and not enough on the Blue Cross.[17] Her omnipresence in press reports alienated the public, and, in 1943, she acknowledged that the society, especially "the lower class", was becoming overexposed to her Blue Cross propaganda, and that "the workers are turning against the Patronage Council".[17] According to Revista de Igienă Socială, Antonescu's Council was highly inefficient at targeting people in need, "especially so in the provinces", and its generous welfare program, that "promoted vice", ought to have been replaced with conditional cash transfers.[18] The council's soup kitchens, Revista argued, were "a desolate spectacle".[18]
By then, underground propaganda was depicting Antonescu as a new and less qualified version of the infamous
Before his death, Antonescu addressed his wife a final letter, in which he restated his claim to innocence and belief that posterity would exonerate him.[4][44] He expressed a wish that Maria withdraw to an Orthodox monastery, adding: "There you will find the peace necessary for the soul and the piece of bread which today you cannot afford."[6][45] The Cobia nunnery imprisonment, British historian Dennis Deletant notes, was "an ironic twist" on this last wish.[35] The original was not preserved and did not reach Maria Antonescu, but its text was copied by Titus Stoica, the Conducător's attorney, a version which he hid inside an armchair just prior to being himself arrested by communist authorities. Reportedly, Stoica forgot its location, and the document was only uncovered decades later by an upholsterer.[6]
In 2002, some 12 years after the
The Antonescu estate was passed into state property, in accordance with provisions for war criminals. This included the watch handed by Ion Antonescu to his wife, which was confiscated from her minutes after she had received it.[6] In 2008, Maria Antonescu's collateral inheritors stated a claim on the couple's villa in Predeal. It was rejected by a Brașov tribunal, which cited the original confiscation law.[46]
Honours
Foreign honours
Notes
- ^ a b c "Președinția Consiliului de Miniștri. Regulamentul Nr. 20" (12 June 1942), in Monitorul Oficial, Nr. 135/1942 (online copy available through Wikimedia Commons)
- ^ a b c Rădulescu, p. 337
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Marcel-Dumitru Ciucă, "Mărturii sub anchetă" (with editorial note)", in Magazin Istoric, March 1998
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n (in Romanian) Lavinia Betea, "Maria, dezmierdată Rica", in Jurnalul Național, 15 May 2006
- ^ Deletant, p. 290; Rădulescu, p. 337
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o (in Romanian) Cristian Grosu, "Și dictatorii iubesc, nu-i așa?", in Jurnalul Național, 2 February 2004
- ^ a b Deletant, p. 290
- ^ Deletant, p. 39
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k (in Romanian) Ioan Scurtu, "«Cucoanele» mareșalului Antonescu", in Historia, August 2013
- ^ Deletant, p. 45
- ^ (in Romanian) Mihai Dim. Sturdza, "Rușii, masonii, Mareșalul și alte răspîntii ale istoriografiei", Nr. 675, May 2013
- ^ "Mesaje regale și comunicate ale Casei M. S. Regelui", in Monitorul Oficial, Nr. 66/1941 (online copy available through Wikimedia Commons)
- ^ ISBN 973-28-0392-4
- ^ a b (in Romanian) Jean Ancel, "Anatomia unei repetate falsificări", in Revista 22, Nr. 864, October 2006
- ^ a b (in Romanian) Ilie Rad, "Spaima și comedia erorilor de tipar", in Jurnalul Național, 11 February 2009
- ^ a b c d e R.I.S., p. 76
- ^ a b c d e f g (in Romanian) Viorel Domenico, "Un război în trei secvențe", in Lumea Militară, Nr. 4/2005
- ^ a b c R.I.S., p. 77
- ^ (in Romanian) Paul D. Popescu, "Femei prahovene de azi, de ieri și mai de demult – Victoria Radovici (II)", in Ziarul Prahova, 24 January 2012
- ISBN 978-973-32-0922-5
- ^ a b (in Romanian) Valeriu Râpeanu, "Generalul Ion Antonescu – cu sprijinul Mariei General Antonescu – încearca să-și asocieze partidele istorice", in Curierul Național, 23 November 2002
- ^ Răzvan Vintilescu, "Masoneria română, între binecuvîntarea și afurisenia Bisericii", in Cotidianul, 24 September 2007
- ^ Final Report, p. 210
- ^ Ioanid, p. 188
- ^ Hausleitner, p. 99; Ioanid, pp. 300–301
- ^ Ioanid, p. 300
- ^ Final Report, p. 201; Deletant, p. 123
- ^ a b Deletant, p. 313
- ^ Hausleitner, p. 93
- ^ Final Report, p. 214
- ^ Ioanid, pp. 357–358
- ^ (in Romanian) Cristina Deac, "Petru Groza – un burghez excentric", in Jurnalul Național, 30 January 2006
- ISBN 0-19-509355-0
- ^ Ioanid, p. 358
- ^ a b c d e f g h Deletant, p. 350
- ^ Marius Rotar, "Comuniști albaiulieni până la 23 august 1944. Cazul unui oraș din provincie", in Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, Vol. 10, 2018, pp. 351–352
- ^ a b (in Romanian) Ilie Rad, "Călătorie în Țara Kangurului", in România Literară, Nr. 32/2009
- ^ (in Romanian) Daniel Focșa, "Mariana Drăgescu și Escadrila Albă (V)", in Ziarul Financiar, 8 June 2007
- ^ (in Romanian) Niculae Postea, "La Periprava (II)", in Observator Cultural, Nr. 52, February 2001
- ^ (in Romanian) Daniela Șontică, "Biserica lui Antonescu", in Jurnalul Național, 20 May 2006
- ^ Rădulescu, pp. 325–326, 327
- ^ (in Romanian) Ion Longin Popescu, "Un sat istoric: Antonești", in Formula As, Nr. 823, June 2008
- ^ România Liberă, January 2002 (republished by LiterNet); retrieved 4 April 2009
- ^ Deletant, pp. 259–260
- ^ Deletant, p. 260
- ^ (in Romanian) Ionel Stoica, Dan Sebastian, "Bătălie în justiție pe vila de un milion de euro din Predeal a mareșalului Antonescu", in Adevărul, 26 September 2008
References
- Final Report of the ISBN 973-681-989-2
- ISBN 1-4039-9341-6
- Mariana Hausleitner, "Auf dem Weg zur »Ethnokratie«. Rumänien in den Jahren des Zweiten Weltkrieges", in Christoph Dieckmann, Babette Quinkert, Tatjana Tönsmeyer, Kooperation und Verbrechen: Formen der »Kollaboration« im östlichen Europa, 1939–1945. Beiträge zur Geschichtes des Nazionalsozialismus 19, Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen, 2005, pp. 77–112. ISBN 3-89244-690-3
- ISBN 2-7351-0921-6
- Mihai Sorin Rădulescu, "Autour de la généalogie de Ion Antonescu", in Muzeul Național, Vol. XVIII, 2006, pp. 319–338.
- R.I.S., "Activitatea Consiliului de Patronaj al Operelor Sociale", in Revista de Igienă Socială, 1-2/1944, pp. 76–77.