Corpul Muncitoresc Legionar
Encyclopedia
Corpul Muncitoresc Legionar or Corpul Muncitorilor Legionari (CML, the Legionary Worker Corps or Legionary Workers' Corps) was a fascist
association of workers in Romania
, created inside the Iron Guard
(which was originally known as the Legionary Movement) and having a rigid hierarchical structure. From its creation until September 1940, the CML was led by Gheorghe Clime; afterwards, the position was filled by Dumitru Groza, who oversaw the Corps during the period when the Iron Guard was in power — the National Legionary State
—, and involved it in the 1941 Rebellion and Pogrom
. The CML had its headquarters in Bucharest
, on Calea Călăraşilor.
Together with the Iron Guard, it was outlawed by Conducător
Ion Antonescu
during the Rebellion, and dissolved itself. In time, the group formed around Dumitru Groza was drawn into collaboration with Antonescu, and later refused to become involved in talks with the Romanian Communist Party
over the possibility of a political truce.
, had already manifested a special interest in the labor movement. As early as 1919, he had joined Constantin Pancu in his Garda Conştiinţei Naţionale, an association of workers, engaging in street battles with those whom they saw as Bolshevik
agitators and drafting a political program which owed inspiration to the Austria
n Christian Social Party and, possibly, to the DNSAP
. In 1933, he was among those who condemned the repression of the Griviţa Strike
by the National Peasants' Party
cabinet of Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
. Nevertheless, Roger Griffin
's analysis of the relations established between the Movement and the working class
indicates that such interventions were marginal in respect to other goals set by Codreanu, and largely fruitless. In contrast, Codreanu himself is thought to have based his decision on the fact that industrial employees were already joining his grouping in relevant numbers.
Corpul Muncitoresc was created on October 25, 1936. The first of its units, centered in Azuga
, was established in 1938. Soon afterwards, all working-class political cells (cuiburi, or "nests") withdrew from their affiliation with local structures, and were reunited inside the CML. Codreanu underlined the class' importance in the context of his ideology, and, through an appeal to the CML in particular and the proletariat
in general, he indicated:
, leading to a world were employers and employees would be "comrades"). Dumitru Groza, who expanded on the theme of Legionary workers being "masters of their own country", is known to have deemed Codreanu "the Messiah
of the Romanian worker".
The Corps, coinciding with a peak in Iron Guard popularity and influence, as well as with the apex of interwar
industrialization in Romania, signified a major shift in regard to recruitment policies. Before the period of persecution and Codreanu's killing (November 1938), it swelled in numbers. There are several views in respect to its overall importance inside the larger movement: according to Aurel Dragoş Munteanu, the Corps was the largest and most popular branch, while Francisco Veiga describes it as "an elite organization", and argues that its strength lay in determination rather than sheer numbers.
Initially, the CML made gains in the ranks of semi-skilled workers. Soon after, it came to draw much of its membership (around 8,000 people) from the industrial areas of Bucharest
, most notably Griviţa
, and from the city's major employers (both in the services industry
, with Societatea de Transport Bucureşti
, and in Nicolae Malaxa
's factories). Francisco Veiga indicates that the organization had only marginal impact on the Prahova County
, where the oil industry was centered.
It soon began organizing a series of leisure
ventures, including several low-cost restaurants (one of them was maintained in Griviţa), which also functioned as charity
canteen
s for the poor. Following a model instituted by Opera nazionale dopolavoro
in Fascist Italy
, a number of campsite
s were set up, offering free vacationing to working-class children.
Following King
Carol II
's 1938 decision to monopolize stately power and the subsequent creation of the National Renaissance Front
as the single ruling party, the CML remained active in the underground, but was much weakened and efficiently supervised by the secret police
(Siguranţa Statului). It has also been argued that the Corps nonetheless gained political support, as an indirect consequence of Carol's similar move to outlaw all trade union
s.
, created soon after Carol's fall in 1940 as a partnership between General Ion Antonescu
(who took the title of Conducător
) and the Iron Guard's Horia Sima
, Dumitru Groza's CML was instated as an official institution, officially replacing all trade unions. It developed an autonomous structure, which included its own paramilitary
wing (garnizoană), and rose to over 13,200 members in Bucharest. Advertised as a new social nucleus of the nation, the CML increased the number of its ventures, owning its own cinemas, and even criticized various employers for the treatment they offered to workers (which played a part in the proclamation of a theoretical minimum wage
). At the time, the Iron Guard's Minister of Labor Vasile Iaşinschi was quoted as saying:
In autumn 1940, as tensions between the Guard and Antonescu escalated, the movement began appealing to Romanian Army personnel, in an attempt to draw support away from the military leaders. In the process, the CML and Ajutorul Legionar, the Guard's humanitarian venture, were depicted as evidence that the Sima's was the only political body capable of dealing with the social problems faced by soldiers. In parallel, the CML's paramilitary troops took part in waves of violence and repression, occasionally taking initiative; on November 26–27, 1940, together with Legionary sympathizers in the Romanian Police
, it carried out the killings of former National Renaissance Front
officials who were detained in Jilava
.
The CML was among the main participants in the Legionary Rebellion
of January 21, 1941, when the final clash with Antonescu took place. It also played a prominent part in the parallel pogrom
, organizing a roundup of Jewish
persons. The Corps transported those captured to the forest in Jilava, where they were shot. Among those killed were the two sons of Rabbi
Zvi Gutman (shots were also fired in Gutman's direction, as he laid down on the ground, but missed their target).
. In 1945, following Antonescu's downfall and the onset of Soviet occupation
(see Romania during World War II
), and the establishment of the Petru Groza
executive, state authorities progressively came under control from the Romanian Communist Party
. In the process, the factionalized and underground interior branch of the Iron Guard was approached by the Communist Party's Teohari Georgescu
and Alexandru Nicolschi
with an offer for a truce (evidence was also cited that the agreement was directly ordered by Soviet
overseers). Such talks were mainly carried out with Nicolae Petraşcu, who claimed to represent the exiled leadership of Sima. Dumitru Groza's faction refused to partake in the deal.
During the Communist regime
, established in 1948, the CML's impact in industrial areas of Bucharest was obscured, with the PCR claiming to have been the main agent of political agitation during the 1930s. As part of their conflict with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
, both Ana Pauker
and her associate Georgescu were accused of having orchestrated the enrollment of Legionaries in the Party (Pauker is known to have publicly welcomed former members of the Iron Guard on one occasion in 1945, and it has been argued that she took part in the actual negotiations).
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
association of workers in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, created inside the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
(which was originally known as the Legionary Movement) and having a rigid hierarchical structure. From its creation until September 1940, the CML was led by Gheorghe Clime; afterwards, the position was filled by Dumitru Groza, who oversaw the Corps during the period when the Iron Guard was in power — the National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
—, and involved it in the 1941 Rebellion and Pogrom
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
. The CML had its headquarters in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, on Calea Călăraşilor.
Together with the Iron Guard, it was outlawed by Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
during the Rebellion, and dissolved itself. In time, the group formed around Dumitru Groza was drawn into collaboration with Antonescu, and later refused to become involved in talks with the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
over the possibility of a political truce.
Context and creation
Even before the Corps creation, the Legionary Movement's leader, Corneliu Zelea CodreanuCorneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or The Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist and violently antisemitic organization active throughout most of the interwar period...
, had already manifested a special interest in the labor movement. As early as 1919, he had joined Constantin Pancu in his Garda Conştiinţei Naţionale, an association of workers, engaging in street battles with those whom they saw as Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
agitators and drafting a political program which owed inspiration to the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Christian Social Party and, possibly, to the DNSAP
Austrian National Socialism
Austrian National Socialism was a Pan-German movement that was formed at the beginning of the 20th century. The movement took a concrete form on November 15, 1903 when the German Worker's Party was established in Austria with its secretariat stationed in the town of Aussig...
. In 1933, he was among those who condemned the repression of the Griviţa Strike
Grivita Strike of 1933
The Grivița Strike of 1933 was a railway strike which was started at the Grivița Workshops, Bucharest, Romania, on 16 February 1933 by workers of Căile Ferate Române . The strike was brought about by the increasingly poor working conditions of railway employees in the context of the worldwide Great...
by the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
cabinet of Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod was a Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom; he later served three terms as a Prime Minister of Greater Romania.-Transylvanian politics:He was born to a Greek-Catholic family in the...
. Nevertheless, Roger Griffin
Roger Griffin
Roger D. Griffin is a British academic political theorist at Oxford Brookes University, England. His recent efforts have focused on a definition and examination of fascism...
's analysis of the relations established between the Movement and the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
indicates that such interventions were marginal in respect to other goals set by Codreanu, and largely fruitless. In contrast, Codreanu himself is thought to have based his decision on the fact that industrial employees were already joining his grouping in relevant numbers.
Corpul Muncitoresc was created on October 25, 1936. The first of its units, centered in Azuga
Azuga
Azuga is a small resort town nestled in the mountains of Prahova county in the Wallachian region of Romania. Azuga is located at the foot of the Bucegi mountains, and contains the longest ski run in Romania, the Sorica - together with other ski slopes...
, was established in 1938. Soon afterwards, all working-class political cells (cuiburi, or "nests") withdrew from their affiliation with local structures, and were reunited inside the CML. Codreanu underlined the class' importance in the context of his ideology, and, through an appeal to the CML in particular and the proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
in general, he indicated:
"In your fight, up to now, you have strayed on hundreds of slanting paths and you have been defeated. All your attempts have been crushed. This time around, you will vanquish under the Legionary symbol, your sacrifice will be rewarded with a reward of the victorious and the masters of a country."
Early trends
Various other statements of Legionary leaders clarified their intention to marginalize left-wing politics inside the labor movement, while making vague promises regarding social equality (appealing to "authentic workers", they indicated their refusal to accept "transforming the administrative and professional problem into a terrible political weapon", and proclaimed a will to balance the labor cause with capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, leading to a world were employers and employees would be "comrades"). Dumitru Groza, who expanded on the theme of Legionary workers being "masters of their own country", is known to have deemed Codreanu "the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
of the Romanian worker".
The Corps, coinciding with a peak in Iron Guard popularity and influence, as well as with the apex of interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
industrialization in Romania, signified a major shift in regard to recruitment policies. Before the period of persecution and Codreanu's killing (November 1938), it swelled in numbers. There are several views in respect to its overall importance inside the larger movement: according to Aurel Dragoş Munteanu, the Corps was the largest and most popular branch, while Francisco Veiga describes it as "an elite organization", and argues that its strength lay in determination rather than sheer numbers.
Initially, the CML made gains in the ranks of semi-skilled workers. Soon after, it came to draw much of its membership (around 8,000 people) from the industrial areas of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, most notably Griviţa
Grivita
Griviţa is an area of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Griviţa Railway Yards , which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city...
, and from the city's major employers (both in the services industry
Tertiary sector of industry
The tertiary sector of the economy is one of the three economic sectors, the others being the secondary sector and the primary sector .The service sector consists of the "soft" parts of the economy, i.e...
, with Societatea de Transport Bucureşti
Regia Autonoma de Transport Bucuresti
Regia Autonomă de Transport Bucureşti is a public transport operator in Bucharest, Romania. It operates a complex network of buses, trams and trolleybuses – in fact, all public transport except the Bucharest Metro, which is managed by Metrorex...
, and in Nicolae Malaxa
Nicolae Malaxa
-Biography:Born in a family of Greek origins in Huşi, Malaxa studied engineering in Iaşi and Karlsruhe...
's factories). Francisco Veiga indicates that the organization had only marginal impact on the Prahova County
Prahova County
Prahova is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploieşti.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 829,945 and the population density was 176/km². It is Romania's most populated county, having a population density double than the country's mean...
, where the oil industry was centered.
It soon began organizing a series of leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
ventures, including several low-cost restaurants (one of them was maintained in Griviţa), which also functioned as charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
canteen
Canteen
Canteen has several different meanings:*Canteen , a water container*Canteen , a cafe, restaurant, or cafeteria provided for the use of students, workers, or soldiers at a particular school, office, or military base...
s for the poor. Following a model instituted by Opera nazionale dopolavoro
Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro
The National Recreational Club was the Italian Fascist leisure and recreational organization.- History:...
in Fascist Italy
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
, a number of campsite
Campsite
A campsite or camping pitch is a place used for overnight stay in the outdoors. In British English a campsite is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using tents or camper vans or caravans; this British English use of the word is synonymous with the...
s were set up, offering free vacationing to working-class children.
Following King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
's 1938 decision to monopolize stately power and the subsequent creation of the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
as the single ruling party, the CML remained active in the underground, but was much weakened and efficiently supervised by the secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
(Siguranţa Statului). It has also been argued that the Corps nonetheless gained political support, as an indirect consequence of Carol's similar move to outlaw all trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s.
National Legionary State
Under the National Legionary StateNational Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
, created soon after Carol's fall in 1940 as a partnership between General Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
(who took the title of Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
) and the Iron Guard's Horia Sima
Horia Sima
Horia Sima was a Romanian fascist politician. After 1938, he was the second and last leader of the fascist and antisemitic para-military movement known as the Iron Guard.-In Romania:...
, Dumitru Groza's CML was instated as an official institution, officially replacing all trade unions. It developed an autonomous structure, which included its own paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
wing (garnizoană), and rose to over 13,200 members in Bucharest. Advertised as a new social nucleus of the nation, the CML increased the number of its ventures, owning its own cinemas, and even criticized various employers for the treatment they offered to workers (which played a part in the proclamation of a theoretical minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
). At the time, the Iron Guard's Minister of Labor Vasile Iaşinschi was quoted as saying:
"among the workers today will be recruited the tomorrow's factory owners, if not in the first generation, at least in the second."
In autumn 1940, as tensions between the Guard and Antonescu escalated, the movement began appealing to Romanian Army personnel, in an attempt to draw support away from the military leaders. In the process, the CML and Ajutorul Legionar, the Guard's humanitarian venture, were depicted as evidence that the Sima's was the only political body capable of dealing with the social problems faced by soldiers. In parallel, the CML's paramilitary troops took part in waves of violence and repression, occasionally taking initiative; on November 26–27, 1940, together with Legionary sympathizers in the Romanian Police
Romanian Police
The Romanian Police is the national police force and main civil law enforcement agency in Romania. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform.-Duties:The Romanian Police are responsible for:...
, it carried out the killings of former National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
officials who were detained in Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
.
The CML was among the main participants in the Legionary Rebellion
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
of January 21, 1941, when the final clash with Antonescu took place. It also played a prominent part in the parallel pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
, organizing a roundup of Jewish
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
persons. The Corps transported those captured to the forest in Jilava, where they were shot. Among those killed were the two sons of Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Zvi Gutman (shots were also fired in Gutman's direction, as he laid down on the ground, but missed their target).
Aftermath
Although Antonescu singled out Dumitru Groza as one of the Rebellion leaders, Siguranţa Statului obtained the former CML's leader collaboration for much of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1945, following Antonescu's downfall and the onset of Soviet occupation
Soviet occupation of Romania
The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania...
(see Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
), and the establishment of the Petru Groza
Petru Groza
Petru Groza was a Romanian politician, best known as the Prime Minister of the first Communist Party-dominated governments under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Communist regime in Romania....
executive, state authorities progressively came under control from the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
. In the process, the factionalized and underground interior branch of the Iron Guard was approached by the Communist Party's Teohari Georgescu
Teohari Georgescu
Teohari Georgescu was a high-ranking member of the Romanian Communist Party.-Life:Born in Bacău, he was the third of seven children of Constantin and Aneta Georgescu. Georgescu, whose formal education ended after the fourth grade, began his career as an assistant in his father's store...
and Alexandru Nicolschi
Alexandru Nicolschi
Alexandru Nicolschi was a Romanian communist activist, Soviet agent and officer, and Securitate chief under the Communist regime...
with an offer for a truce (evidence was also cited that the agreement was directly ordered by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
overseers). Such talks were mainly carried out with Nicolae Petraşcu, who claimed to represent the exiled leadership of Sima. Dumitru Groza's faction refused to partake in the deal.
During the Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, established in 1948, the CML's impact in industrial areas of Bucharest was obscured, with the PCR claiming to have been the main agent of political agitation during the 1930s. As part of their conflict with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
, both Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
and her associate Georgescu were accused of having orchestrated the enrollment of Legionaries in the Party (Pauker is known to have publicly welcomed former members of the Iron Guard on one occasion in 1945, and it has been argued that she took part in the actual negotiations).