Page 26 - Jewish News_August-2020

26 August 2020 JEWISH INTEREST

Romania’s anguish, August 1940 Stars of David

By Paul R. Bartrop, PhD By Nate Bloom, Contributing Columnist
he Holocaust in Romania was political and economic life. considered Christian only if his or her ing Romania. Throughout the year Editor’s note: Persons in BOLD CAPS are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish
an absolute calamity for the The August 8, 1940, law placed parents had converted prior to the birth 1940, the country was forced to cede for the purpose of the column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jew-
Tcountry’s Jews. On July 4, 1940, Jews into three categories. The first of the child. large portions of its territory to the So- ish parent and were not raised in a faith other than Judaism – and don’t identify
King Carol II appointed a pro-Nazi, category included Jews who had en- On September 5, 1940, soon af- viet Union, Hungary and Bulgaria. On with a faith other than Judaism as an adult. Converts to Judaism, of course, are
Ion Gigurtu, to head the government tered Romania after December 30, ter the introduction of these laws, Ion September 6, 1940, the day after the also identified as Jewish.
and declared an amnesty for Romania’s 1918. These Jews were subject to ma- Gigurtu resigned as Prime Minister, resignation of the Gigurtu government, Some July Catch-Up, Diggs Does
fascist Iron Guard movement. Eighty jor restrictions in all aspects of life. and although persecution in Romania King Carol II was forced from his Douglass, and Baseball(!)
years ago, on August The second category was com- took place quickly as a result of the throne. He was replaced by Michael, Palm Springs, a comedy starring
8, 1940, Gigurtu in- prised of Jews who had been natural- August laws, violence against Jews in- his 19-year-old son, who would remain ANDY SAMBERG, 41, got great re-
troduced harsh anti- ized before December 30, 1918; who creased dramatically once his replace- a figurehead leader until 1944. views at the 2020 Sundance Festival.
Semitic legislation had served in the army in either the ment, Marshal Ion Antonescu and the The territorial losses were partly to Hulu bought the rights to stream it af-
which framed what 1877-1878 war of independence or Iron Guard movement, took control of blame for this upheaval, but an increas- ter a theater opening. But COVID-19
the legal status of World War I; were war orphans; and the country. Army and police person- ingly fascist-oriented Romania could intervened, and it began streaming on
Jews would be from descendants of the excepted categories nel began assaulting and killing Jews. not for long remain outside the orbit Hulu on July 10. Here’s the “Ground
then on. Signed by of Jews. Jews in these categories, how- They also vandalized, robbed or seized of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. All
Dr. Paul Bartrop King Carol II, it was ever, were not considered to be part of Jewish-owned businesses. The anti-Se- that remained was for Antonescu to set Hog Day-like” plot: Nyles (Samberg)
drafted by Gigurtu and I.V. Gruia, Min- the national community, and they were mitic legislation set in place in August his country on a formal footing along- and Sarah (Christin Milioti) meet at a
wedding and hit it off. The downside
ister of Justice and a law professor at subject to restrictions on owning prop- began to take immediate effect. side the two larger totalitarian states. is that they are trapped in a time loop
the University of Bucharest. erty in rural areas and in qualifying for By January 2, 1941, a full-scale With this in mind, he wasted little time and have to live the day of the wedding
This law excluded Jews from many public service jobs. pogrom took place in Bucharest. On aligning Romania with Germany and over and over. Oscar-nominee JUNE
of the benefits of citizenship granted to Most Jews in Romania fell into the this most horrific occasion, 200 of Bu- Italy. Romania formally joined the SQUIBB, 90, has a small role as a
them by the 1923 Constitution. It le- third category. These were the Jews charest’s most distinguished men and Axis alliance on November 23, 1940. grandma attending the wedding.
gally and politically distinguished be- who had become citizens after 1919. women were taken to the abattoir on The year 1940 was replete with Over on HBO, the documentary
tween “Romanians by blood” (romani Jews in the first and the third catego- the edge of the city, stripped, forced opportunities for states to descend into Showbiz Kids premiered on July 14.
de sange) and “Romanian citizens,” ries were prohibited from taking public to kneel on all fours, and put through the quagmire of massive human rights HBO publicity says: “[It] peels back
thereby emphasizing the significance service jobs, buying property, pursuing all stages of animal slaughter until the violations, anti-Semitism and geno- Hollywood’s velvet curtain, shining
of “blood” and “race” to the nation and military careers, becoming lawyers or beheaded bodies, spurting blood, were cide. Romania was one country among a spotlight on the glamour and allure
state. Accordingly, it stated, “The con- notaries public, being appointed mem- hung on iron hooks on the wall. many unable to resist the totalitarian of working in the entertainment in-
cept of the nation can now be construed bers of a corporate board, and owning Antonescu’s position was clearly temptation, as we know and remember, dustry, while also affording a sobering
less as a legal or political community businesses in rural areas, liquor stores, outlined as soon as he assumed office: to our sorrow. window on the tolls that early success
and more as an organic, cultural com- movie theaters, publishing houses, “The program I will submit to your Dr. Paul Bartrop is Professor of His- can take on young professionals.” In-
munity based on the law of blood, from publications and Romanian media out- collective judgment is rooted entirely tory and the Director of the Center for terviewees include MARA WILSON,
which an entire hierarchy of political lets. in the tenets of integral nationalism.” Holocaust and Genocide Research at 32, and EVAN RACHEL WOOD, 32.
rights emerges; for the law of blood Moreover, all Jews were prohibit- This term, “integral nationalism,” Florida Gulf Coast University. He can Both are the children of Jewish moth-
contains all cultural, spiritual and ethi- ed from taking Romanian names, while meant intolerance of ethnic pluralism be reached at pbartrop@fgcu.edu. ers and non-Jewish fathers. Both were
cal opportunities.” the Jewish religion was not considered and the elimination of “foreigners,” raised Jewish. Wilson’s first big role
Further, the law stated that “the to be part of Romania’s religious and especially Jews, from all areas of Ro- Need to reach was in Mrs. Doubtfire (she was six).
defense of Romanian blood constitutes spiritual community. Like the Nurem- manian society. This, in turn, was the She also starred in Matilda. Wood’s
the moral guarantee for the acknowl- berg Laws in Nazi Germany, Jews were bedrock upon which he rested his poli- the editor of breakthrough role was in the film Thir-
edgement of supreme political rights.” now defined through a merger of the cy of “Romanianization.” Enforcement teen. She was 15 when it opened.
These “laws of blood” referred to ethi- dual criteria of ritual and ancestry: a of this legislation, it was held, would The Jewish News? The documentary’s director is
cal, spiritual and cultural character- person was considered to be a Jew if he end the “domination” of the “foreign ALEX WINTER, 54. He began as a
istics, rather than anything physical. or she practiced Judaism or was born plague” of Jews in Romanian econom- Send an email to child actor and is best remembered as
The law would now regulate the le- to parents of the Jewish faith, even if ic life. “Bill” in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adven-
gal status of Jews in Romania regard- that person had converted to Chris- While all this was being played jewishnews@jfedsrq.org. ture (1989) and its 1991 film sequel.
ing their participation in religious, tianity or was an atheist. One could be out, other developments were impact- Born in the U.K., he was raised in the

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