Viorica Agarici was a 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...

n nurse, the chairwoman of the local Red Cross in the city of Roman

Roman, Romania

Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....

 during World War II

World 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...

 and the 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...

 regime. A protector of the Jewish population

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....

 during the implementation of the Holocaust in Romania, she is one of only 52 Romanians among the Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous Among the Nations

Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....

 commemorated by the Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i people at Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....

.

Viorica Agarici was the daughter of a former mayor of Roman, himself noted for intervening on behalf of the Jews, and who helped establish the local synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 and modern school. She was the mother of Horia Agarici

Horia Agarici

Captain Horia Agarici was a Romanian aviator and World War II flying ace.Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Agarici lived much of his youth in Iaşi, then attended flying schools in Bucharest and Tecuci , becoming a bomber pilot in the Romanian Air Force...

, a celebrated Royal Romanian Air Force pilot.

On the night of July 2, 1941, after caring for the Romanian Army wounded coming from the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

, she overheard people moaning from a train transporting Jewish survivors of the Iaşi pogrom

Iasi pogrom

The Iaşi pogrom or Jassy pogrom of June 27, 1941 was one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history, launched by governmental forces in the Romanian city of Iaşi against its Jewish population, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews, according to Romanian authorities.-Background:]During...

 (see also 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...

). The crowded deportees were being transported to Călăraşi

Calarasi

Călăraşi , the capital of Călăraşi County and Sud-Muntenia Region in the Wallachia region, is situated in south-east Romania, on the bank of Danube's Borcea branch, at about 12 kilometers from the Bulgarian border and 125 kilometers from Bucharest....

 without water or food. Many of them had died before reaching Roman, on the trip from Iaşi

Iasi

Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...

 (which normally took two hours). The transport they were on, supervised by the Gendarmerie

Jandarmeria Româna

Jandarmeria Română is the military branch of the two Romanian police forces .The gendarmerie is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform and does not have responsibility for policing the Romanian Armed Forces...

, has been described as a "death train". The Gendarmes, instigated by Second Lieutenant Aurel Triandaf and the non-commissioned officer

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

 Anastase Bratu, prevented passengers access to water and shot several of those who attempted to procure it. In parallel, various local people and soldiers made attempts to sell the victims water at exorbitant prices, while troops, both local and German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, attacked the prisoners with stones.

Taking advantage of her position, she asked and received permission to give food and water to the passengers, to allow them to wash, and to remove of the dead bodies. This first aid

First aid

First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...

 operation was accomplished with assistance from Romanian Red Cross

Romanian Red Cross

The Romanian Red Cross , also known as the Romanian National Red Cross , is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside Romania...

 and local Jewish volunteers, and effectively stalled the transport a full day. According to one account, Agarici actually ordered the authorities to obey — a Colonel Eraclide possibly complied due to the respect he may have had for the war hero Horia Agarici. On July 4, all Jewish prisoners were moved to another train, where they received some food and water (despite the improved conditions, 75 died during the subsequent trip and 69 shortly after). Of 2,530 people forcefully embarked in Iaşi, only 1,011 were still alive in Călăraşi. It is possible that the original number was much higher, and that losses were under-counted by officials, who did not keep evidence of all the bodies thrown out of the train.

Agarici's actions were strongly condemned by the community of Roman, and she subsequently had to resign and move to 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....

. Reportedly, she was instantly seen as a hero by a sizable part of the Jewish community, and rumors about her actions spread throughout the country. In 1947, three years after the King Michael Coup toppled Antonescu, Aurel Triandaf was sentenced to life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

 and hard labor for war crimes and crimes against peace

Crime against peace

A crime against peace, in international law, refers to "planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing"...

.

Alongside her Yad Vashem recognition, Agarici was the recipient of several local tributes: Roman train station houses her bust

Bust (sculpture)

A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...

 and a memorial plate, and, in summer 2005, her memory was honored through a ceremony hosted by local authorities and representatives of the Jewish community. She was also publicly praised by 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...

Alexandru Şafran

Alexandru Safran

Alexandru Şafran was a Romanian and, after 1948, Swiss rabbi. As chief rabbi of Romania , he intervened with authorities in the fascist government of Ion Antonescu in an unusually successful attempt to save Jews during the Holocaust.-Biography:Şafran was born in Bacău, and received his doctorate...

, the Jewish community leader during World War II, who cited her among the "humane people in inhumane times" (Şafran's list also included Queen-Mother Elena).