Welcome to my very first Substack post – on the publication of Dr. Arthur Kessler’s concentration camp memoir of Transnistria, the ‘forgotten cemetery’
Critical information. Too many people are unaware of the crimes committed by Hitler’s reliable ally Romania. Thank you, and may your grandfather’s memory and his witness continue to be a blessing and inspiration.
Kudos to an excellent introduction to an under-reported corner of WWII. Thank you for the historical context and sharing your grandfather’s painful, horrific experience as a Romanian Jew during the Holocaust. I learned something today. Thank you again.
I recalled another Kessler this morning, David Kessler co-authored the book on Grief with Elizabeth Kubler Ross who was the first to see where the children lived in Auschwitz. She saw paintings of butterlies on the walls. Amazing lineage. Thanks for your post!
Well, this is most interesting and so very well written. First, let me mention that I have met a Dr. kessler in America and wonder if this is a part of his heritage.
Then let me say that those in charge of a government are not always a reflection of all the people in the country. I say that because one of those Nazis lived in a house that used to be on this very land on which my current abode is located. The family was NOT Nazi. The child that lived in that small house saw the pilots being shot as they parachuted from their planes - British and American. There is more to that story, but just know that while these horrors existed and were carried out by terrible people here, the ones who lived in the land, and likely in other lands as well, were not the perpetrators and most often did not support them except in so far as was necessary for survival. The current battles in this world of ours seem to illustrate an ever ongoing struggle that will hopefully end the kinds of horrors that Dr.Kessler and others endured. Prayers and hope for just leaders in all countries is on my agenda.
Thanks for your comment, Nancy. It’s of course a very complicated history, but unfortunately the most common narrative in Romania from the 40s through at least the end of Communism – that the Germans committed the atrocities in Romania, and just a few Romanian bad apples – is simply false. The Romanian government’s official commission of inquiry – the Elie Wiesel Commission – made that very clear in its 2004 report. The seminal work of historians like Radu Ioanid, and more recently Grant Harward’s book “Romania’s Holy War,” has shown the same. That’s not to suggest that all Romanians were complicit, by any means. There have also been many Romanians named as Righteous Among the Nations (see part II of my post), including even the Queen Mother herself. But I think it’s far too easy to blame “outsiders” when it’s abundantly clear that the Antonescu regime, and indeed the Romanian army, was itself responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands
What a great introduction to the history of Romania during World War Two; and the role that it played in the Holocaust.
I’m looking forward to reading more and learning more about your grandfather and his remarkable life. My family are Thessaloniki Jews, my grandfathers family died as did everyone else in the town. My grandfather was out of Greece studying in Sweden when the Nazi’s invaded and subsequently killed the entire population, except for a few survivors who didn’t want to go back to their home. Neither did my grandfather, he eventually came to the United States and never talked much about his life and being a survivor of a traumatic event; the extermination of an entire town. He died before I was born, so the recollections are that of other family members and only spoke about it when pressed to do so by the curiosity of a child. It hurts me, to think about this moment in time; perhaps my genes beg to know, but perhaps I don’t want to know more.
Thanks so much for reading, Bruce. The tragedy of the Salonica Jews is another “forgotten Holocaust.” In my book “Palestine 1936” I note the fact that the death toll there – 95% – was even higher than Poland’s (p. 225). Needless to say, Greece has done very little reckoning with the fact that it did little to nothing to prevent its own citizens being rounded up, deported and murdered en masse by the Germans. In Romania’s case it’s arguably even worse, because it was mostly the Romanians themselves doing the killing and not the Germans. Such dark times.
I learned a lot from reading your book about British Mandatory Palestine, and yet more still from this post. Keep up the good work and thanks for writing.
Critical information. Too many people are unaware of the crimes committed by Hitler’s reliable ally Romania. Thank you, and may your grandfather’s memory and his witness continue to be a blessing and inspiration.
Thank you so much, Lee
You are most welcome.
I teach schoolchildren about the Shoah at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum where I docent
Extremely important work!
It is a privilege to be of service.
Kudos to an excellent introduction to an under-reported corner of WWII. Thank you for the historical context and sharing your grandfather’s painful, horrific experience as a Romanian Jew during the Holocaust. I learned something today. Thank you again.
Thanks very much, JR — I really appreciate that
I recalled another Kessler this morning, David Kessler co-authored the book on Grief with Elizabeth Kubler Ross who was the first to see where the children lived in Auschwitz. She saw paintings of butterlies on the walls. Amazing lineage. Thanks for your post!
My father is named David but we are a different Kessler family 😌
Well, this is most interesting and so very well written. First, let me mention that I have met a Dr. kessler in America and wonder if this is a part of his heritage.
Then let me say that those in charge of a government are not always a reflection of all the people in the country. I say that because one of those Nazis lived in a house that used to be on this very land on which my current abode is located. The family was NOT Nazi. The child that lived in that small house saw the pilots being shot as they parachuted from their planes - British and American. There is more to that story, but just know that while these horrors existed and were carried out by terrible people here, the ones who lived in the land, and likely in other lands as well, were not the perpetrators and most often did not support them except in so far as was necessary for survival. The current battles in this world of ours seem to illustrate an ever ongoing struggle that will hopefully end the kinds of horrors that Dr.Kessler and others endured. Prayers and hope for just leaders in all countries is on my agenda.
Thanks for your comment, Nancy. It’s of course a very complicated history, but unfortunately the most common narrative in Romania from the 40s through at least the end of Communism – that the Germans committed the atrocities in Romania, and just a few Romanian bad apples – is simply false. The Romanian government’s official commission of inquiry – the Elie Wiesel Commission – made that very clear in its 2004 report. The seminal work of historians like Radu Ioanid, and more recently Grant Harward’s book “Romania’s Holy War,” has shown the same. That’s not to suggest that all Romanians were complicit, by any means. There have also been many Romanians named as Righteous Among the Nations (see part II of my post), including even the Queen Mother herself. But I think it’s far too easy to blame “outsiders” when it’s abundantly clear that the Antonescu regime, and indeed the Romanian army, was itself responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands
What a great introduction to the history of Romania during World War Two; and the role that it played in the Holocaust.
I’m looking forward to reading more and learning more about your grandfather and his remarkable life. My family are Thessaloniki Jews, my grandfathers family died as did everyone else in the town. My grandfather was out of Greece studying in Sweden when the Nazi’s invaded and subsequently killed the entire population, except for a few survivors who didn’t want to go back to their home. Neither did my grandfather, he eventually came to the United States and never talked much about his life and being a survivor of a traumatic event; the extermination of an entire town. He died before I was born, so the recollections are that of other family members and only spoke about it when pressed to do so by the curiosity of a child. It hurts me, to think about this moment in time; perhaps my genes beg to know, but perhaps I don’t want to know more.
Thanks so much for reading, Bruce. The tragedy of the Salonica Jews is another “forgotten Holocaust.” In my book “Palestine 1936” I note the fact that the death toll there – 95% – was even higher than Poland’s (p. 225). Needless to say, Greece has done very little reckoning with the fact that it did little to nothing to prevent its own citizens being rounded up, deported and murdered en masse by the Germans. In Romania’s case it’s arguably even worse, because it was mostly the Romanians themselves doing the killing and not the Germans. Such dark times.
I learned a lot from reading your book about British Mandatory Palestine, and yet more still from this post. Keep up the good work and thanks for writing.
Thank you so much – for your kind words, and for reading both the book and the post!
There is a documentary about the Iași pogrom by Radu Jude, The Exit of the Trains (2020) : https://youtu.be/d7IJIrPvPug?si=jAGu-uFQkSzyq9Ob
oops no subtitles, try here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11777952/
Thank you for the history lesson. Sadness is part of our heritage.
Many thanks for reading, Mrya ...
More, please.
Thanks for reading, Robin! And for writing the first-ever comment on a Substack post of mine 😌🙏🏼