DEPORTING THE JEWS OF SATU MARE
The anti-Semitism is present in the European thought since the Middle Ages, and the Holocaust represents the extreme manifestation of it. The hostility against the Jews, sustained by the Nazi ideology, generalized after the WW I. The legislative acts instituted discrimination against the Jewish population in the 30’s, which culminated in the massive extermination of them during the WW II. The legal acts led to the economic ruination and social isolation of the Jews, reducing their moral status. From here only one step remained to establish the ghettos and the labor camps, where the interned had no means to survive. The ghettos were organized in urban settlements, centers of administrative units. They were closed areas where the Jewish people from all the neighboring territory were gathered. The ghetto of Satu Mare was founded on the quarter, where the most of the Jews lived in May 1944. A few weeks later, massive deportation began toward the concentration camp of Auschwitz. The six transports left the ghetto between 19th of May and 1st of June 1944, and with them 18.000 people were sent to death. ST
THE BOMBARDMENT OF SATU MARE IN 1944
The Second World War led to a record in massive life loss and in the destruction of the infrastructure. The great number of civilian victims was caused mainly by the air-bombardment of the main cities. Satu Mare became the victim of a soviet bombardment which targeted the headquarter of the German army, located in the city in the period, in the fall of 1944. The air raid were made in the evenings of 16th, 17th and 19th of September and caused great damages in the lives of the inhabitants: the number of victims reached 170 dead (out of which only 34 were soldiers) and 350 injured. ST
DEPORTING THE ŞVABI OF SATU MARE
The German population of Central and Eastern Europe was regarded as liable for the destruction caused by the Second World War. Therefore, according to the so called “conviction in mass” principle, the Soviet Union organized the deportation of 70.000 Germans from Romania to several labor camps. Among the first 5000 Germans, sent to areas of major interest for the reconstruction of the Soviet economy, were the Schwabs of Satu Mare, their transports departing in January 1945. ST
THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 1946
The communist dictatorship caused fundamental mutations in the Romanian society during the second half of the 20th century. The illusion of an inexistent freedom was maintained for 45 years, by keeping the institutional democratic forms which had no kind of responsibilities. Among these were the “free” parliamentary elections organized with only one candidate.
On the elections, held on 19th of November 1946, the communists were politically represented through a coalition of parties: the Bloc of the Democratic Parties (BDP) gathering among others, the Romanian Communist Party, the Social-Democrat Party, and the Front of Ploughmen’. Before the vote, BDP’s propaganda became violent. Because the result wasn’t the one expected, the only solution to get the power was to falsify the final number of votes. Therefore, according to the official results the population “entrusted” the BDP with 346 parliamentary mandates (83%), the National Peasants Party with 31 mandates, the Popular Hungarian Union with 29 mandates, and the National Liberal Party with 3 mandates. Among the 7 seats of Satu Mare in the parliament, 5 were hold by representatives of the BDP, 1 by the National Peasants Party and 1 by the Popular Hungarian Union. DI
THE CULT OF PERSONALITY DURING THE COMMUNIST ERA
The cult of personality creates an idealized, deified image of a leader. In the communist regimes, the cult is a major deviation of the socialist ideology that brings up equality among people. The most relevant is the image of Stalin, constructed about him after 1945.
A characteristic of the communist Romania of the ‘70s is Nicolae Ceauşescu’s cult of personality. The dictator gained all the leading functions in the state and that of the Romanian Communist Party, and succeeded in making his image to dominate almost exclusively all the media. His personality was entrusted with outstanding intellectual, oratorical, and scientific abilities, being depicted as a real “hero of the time”. He was regarded as the cause of all achievements in the communist Romania. Gradually, the cult was extended to all members of Nicolae Ceauşescu’s family, especially to his wife. DI