Jewish Foreign Trade Officials on Trial: In Gheorghiu-Dej&#039;s Romania 1960-1964

Veronica Rozenberg

doi:10.5771/9781793652850

Summary

This book deals with six trials, conducted by the Romanian state against Jewish key officials employed in state-owned import-export companies between 1950 and 1960. It begins with a presentation of the political realities of Romania following the Communist Party's rise to power, in particular those regarding its relationship with Romania's Jews and Gheorghiu-Dej’s policy of National Communism. Rozenberg describes the criminal procedure used in the staged economic trials follows and then examines this procedure based on the legal system of the period, as exemplified by the six analyzed trials. The Românoexport Jewish officials' trial is analyzed in depth, as the case study of the whole book.

This book concludes by bringing to light two phenomena that dissipate some mystique surrounding the events: first, the state's practice of using its legal system as a means of oppressing the population; and second, the stereotypical image of "The Jew" which the regime in Romania developed. Despite its supposed anti-religiosity, it held on to centuries-old prejudices against Jews as pariahs, with supposed allegiance to foreign elements preferred over their surrounding society, even to the point of betraying and exploiting their own country.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2022
Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-5284-3
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-5285-0
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 292
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Epigraph No access
3. Contents No access
4. Foreword No access
5. Acknowledgments No access
1. Methodology No access
2. Notes No access
1. 1. Romania after World War I No access
  2. The Socialist Movement in Romania No access
  3. The Evolution of PCR No access
2. 1. A People’s Republic under Gheorghiu-Dej’s Leadership No access
  2. Consequences of Khrushchev’s Secret Speech No access
  3. The Failed Thaw No access
3. 1. New Directions in Gheorghiu-Dej’s Politics No access
  2. Gheorghiu-Dej’s Take on National Communism No access
  3. PCR’s Politics versus Romania’s Ethnic Minorities: The Jews No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. 1. Legal Terminology No access
  2. The Political Trial as a Tool of the Regime No access
  3. Political Trials in Eastern European Countries No access
2. 1. The Relationship between Economic and Political Trials No access
  2. 1. Legislative Changes under Khrushchev No access
    2. The New Legislative Principles of the Soviet Constitution No access
    3. The New Trends in Soviet Legislation Regarding Economic Crimes No access
    4. Romanian and Soviet Criminal Codes during the 1960s No access
    5. Criminal Codes in Communist Romania No access
    6. Criminal Codes in the Soviet Union No access
  3. 1. The Soviet Union No access
  4. 1. The Soviet Union No access
    2. A Comparative Analysis of Economic Crimes in Romania versus the Soviet Union No access
3. Conclusion No access
4. Notes No access
1. Introduction No access
2. 1. Romania’s Economic Position after World War II No access
  2. CMEA and its Role in Romanian Economic Development No access
  3. 1. ISCE Cartimex (CA) No access
    2. ISCE Prodexport45 No access
    3. ISCE Agroexport46 No access
    4. ISCE Românoexport47 No access
3. 1. 1. The Uniqueness of the Foreign Trade Trials No access
    2. The Securitate’s Endeavor to Regain Its Position before the Party and State Bodies No access
4. Jews, as the Sole Victims of the Foreign Trade Trials No access
5. 1. 1. The Paper70 No access
    2. The Information Report78 No access
    3. The Proceedings No access
  2. CCPCR Plenary Session of June 9–13, 1958 No access
  3. General Assembly of the Employees in MCE No access
  4. PCR Plenary Session of November 1961 No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. Introduction No access
2. 1. Criminal Surveillance of the Foreign Trade Functionaries No access
3. 1. Preliminary Stages No access
  2. The Arrest No access
  3. 1. Warrants Issued during the Investigation No access
    2. Between Investigator and Defendant—Diversification of Investigation Methods No access
    3. Confrontations between Defendants and Prosecution’s Witnesses No access
  4. Cellmates Working as Spies for the Investigators52 No access
  5. Defendant and Prosecution Witness Depositions No access
  6. The Ending of the Investigation No access
4. 1. The Military Court as the Trials’ Location No access
  2. The Defendants’ Testimonies in Court No access
  3. The Witnesses for the Prosecution No access
  4. The Defense during the Economic Trials No access
  5. The Conclusion of the Criminal Trial and the Issuing of the Sentence No access
5. The Appeal No access
6. 1. Life in the Romanian Sing-Sing70 No access
7. Conclusion No access
8. Notes No access
1. 1. Preliminary Stages No access
  2. The Surveillance No access
  3. 1. The Investigation No access
    2. Witnesses No access
  4. Formulation of the Indictment Conclusions No access
  5. 1. The Appeal No access
  6. About the Background and the Allegations of the Cartimex Trial No access
  7. CA Trail Conclusions No access
2. 1. The First Prodexport Trial (PE-1) No access
  2. Preliminary Stages No access
  3. The Surveillance No access
  4. 1. The Investigation No access
    2. Witnesses and Testimonies No access
    3. Formulation of the Indictment Conclusions No access
  5. Before the Military Court No access
  6. The Appeal and the End of the PE-1 Trial No access
  7. Prodexport and Its Contracts with Foreign Agents No access
  8. Difficulties Arising from Internal Causes No access
  9. Difficulties Arising from External Causes No access
  10. The Last Prodexport Trials (PE-2 and PE-3) No access
  11. 1. PE-3 No access
  12. 1. PE-3 No access
  13. 1. The Investigation No access
    2. Witnesses No access
  14. 1. PE-3 No access
  15. 1. The Appeal No access
  16. 1. PE-3 No access
  17. Conclusions for all the (three) PE Trails No access
3. 1. Preliminary Stages No access
  2. The Surveillance No access
  3. From the Opening of the Criminal Procedure to the Appearance before the Court No access
  4. b. The Investigation No access
  5. The Witnesses No access
  6. Formulation of the Indictment Conclusions No access
  7. Before the Military Court No access
  8. The Appeal No access
  9. AE Trial Conclusions No access
4. ConclusionS No access
5. Notes No access
1. Introduction No access
2. 1. The Structure of the Criminal Case P179 No access
  2. RE Defendants and Their Positions Prior to the Trial No access
  3. Criminal Surveillance of the RE Functionaries No access
3. 1. The Arrest No access
  2. 1. Sidonia Grigoriu No access
    2. Gheorghe Manheim No access
    3. Angelo Chinzbrunner No access
    4. Alexandru Costin No access
    5. Mihai Crainic No access
    6. Biniamin Schwartz No access
    7. Paul Ştefănescu No access
    8. Adalbert Rosinger No access
    9. Alexandru Rado No access
    10. Warrants Issued during the Investigation No access
  3. Confrontation between Defendants and Prosecution Witnesses No access
  4. 1. Sidonia Grigoriu No access
    2. Alexandru Rado No access
    3. Paul Ştefănescu No access
    4. Gheorghe Manheim No access
    5. Adalbert Rosinger No access
  5. The Witnesses for the Prosecution No access
4. 1. Testimonies before the Court No access
  2. The Sentence No access
  3. The Appeal No access
5. 1. 1. The Cement Contracts, a Contractual Model of the 1950s No access
    2. Romania-Egypt Cement Contracts of the 1950s No access
    3. The Bohumer Affair No access
  2. 1. The Contract for the Sale of 120,000 Tons of Cement to Toriel (C120) No access
    2. Problems Arising after the Signing of the C120 Contract and during Its Implementation No access
    3. The Contract for the Sale of 150,000 Tons of Cement to Toriel (C150) No access
    4. Sidonia Grigoriu’s Objections to the Financial Assessments Regarding the Cement Contracts No access
  3. Conclusions Regarding the C120 and C150 Contracts No access
6. Conclusion No access
7. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
1. Note No access
1. Notes No access
1. Pre-surveillance File No access
2. Surveillance File No access
3. Informant Network File No access
4. Criminal Case File No access
5. Intelligence Objective File No access
6. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
1. Notes No access
1. Defendants No access
2. Members of the Military Court No access
3. Financial Experts No access
4. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 275 - 280
Index No access Pages 281 - 290
About the Author No access Pages 291 - 292