The Ransom of the Jews: The Story of the Extraordinary Secret Bargain Between Romania and Israel

433 Pages·2021·2.432 MB·English

by  Radu Ioanid

The Ransom of the Jews

The Ransom
of the Jews
The Story of the
Extraordinary Secret Bargain
Between Romania and Israel,
Second Edition
RADU IOANID
Foreword by Elie Wiesel
Translated by Cristina Marine
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
This volume was written and published by the author exclusively in his private capacity.
The content of the texts from this volume is not connected in any way with the institutions
and organizations to which the author was or is affiliated being his sole responsibility in
terms of their writing or selection.
Translation of a part of the historical study and of all the documents was done with the
support of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Bucharest, Romania.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ioanid, Radu, author. | Wiesel, Elie, 1928-2016, writer of foreword.
Title: The ransom of the Jews : the story of the extraordinary secret bargain between
Romania and Israel / Radu Ioanid ; foreword by Elie Wiesel.
Description: Second edition. | Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2021] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021015929 (print) | LCCN 2021015930 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538140734
(cloth) | ISBN 9781538140741 (paperback) | ISBN 9781538140758 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Jews—Romania—History—20th century. | Romania—Emigration and
immigration. | Israel—Emigration and immigration. | Romania—Emigration and
immigration—Government policy. | Ransom—Romania—History—20th century. |
Romania—History—1944-1989. | Romania. Securitatea—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC DS135.R7 I66 2021 (print) | LCC DS135.R7 (ebook) | DDC
325/.24980569409045—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021015929
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021015930
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
In memory of my father, Virgil, who used to tell me
that the Communist regime of Romania succeeded
where both the Iron Guards and Ion Antonescu had
failed—in making Romania a country free of Jews.
I am God, your God who took you
out of Egypt and out of slavery.
the first of the ten commandments
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Elie Wiesel xiii
Preface to the Second Edition xvii
Introduction: Lost and Found xxv
1 “The Jews Are Our Misfortune” 1
2 Voting with Their Feet 16
3 The Zionist Enemy 27
4 Barter 51
5 An Uneasy Relationship 85
6 The Money Trail 116
7 The Washington Equation 145
8 “Why Did You Drain My Soul?” 157
Primary Documents 165
Appendix 372
Notes 374
Index 392
About the Author 406
vii

Acknowledgments
the idea for this book published first in United States in
2005 belongs to David Singer, director of research at the American
Jewish Committee (AJC). It was he who first proposed that I under-
take this compelling and challenging research, and the AJC initially
sponsored my efforts. Thanks to the dedicated support of this organi-
zation and of the United States Congress, I was able to gain access to
highly classified Romanian official records in the archives of several
intelligence agencies. The AJC also graciously agreed to permit me
to transform my research report into a book. Thus I am grateful to
the organization in general and specifically to David Singer, Andrew
Baker, and David Harris.
Both in Romania and in Israel, my research on this sensitive
piece of history raised eyebrows among certain bureaucrats with little
understanding of history. They feared the skeletons in the closets of
their governments. Despite this attitude, I was able to find in govern-
ment circles of both countries wonderful friends who helped make
this book possible.
In Romania, President Emil Constantinescu and some of his
advisers supported my work wholeheartedly. I am grateful to Pro-
fessor Zoe Petre, the president’s chief of staff, and to Marius Oprea,
adviser to the president, for their warm assistance. Both under-
stood immediately the ethical and moral implications of my work
and backed it without hesitation. The successive leaderships (under
ix