"Christianizing" Transnistria: Romanian Orthodox Clergy as Beneficiaries, Perpetrators, and Rescuers during the Holocaust

The violent behavior of fascist Orthodox clerics serving in the Transnistrian Orthodox Mission during World War II contributed to the "Romanianization" of Transnistria initiated by the Antonescu government in 1941. These churchmen stand out as bystanders, beneficiaries, and even perpetrators of the Holocaust. Subscribing to the antisemitic programs of the outlawed Iron Guard and of the Antonescu government, these men took an active part in exploiting, robbing, and even murdering both local Jews and other deportees from Bessarabia, Bucovina, and elsewhere in Romania. They illustrate both the suffusion of fascist ideology into all sectors of Romanian society and the role of clergy at every level.