The Evacuation of the Jewish Population from Banat and the Western Frontier Areas of Romania

Romania, Bucharest, 11 September 1942
Prime Ministers Office
The Commissar for Jewish Affairs

TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRIME MINISTER,

In order to establish the rules for the operation of the evacuation of the Jewish population from Banat and the western frontier areas, I hereby respectfully submit the following proposals for evaluation by Your Excellency:

The evacuation operations should encompass the whole of the Jewish population. However, I find it fit to grant the right of stay to those Jews who by their deeds have proved they form a part of the spirit of the Romanian Nation, as well as to those useful to the economy and trade.

Given this premise, I respectfully suggest the exclusion of the following categories of Jews from evacuation:

1 Jews and Jewesses married to Christian Romanians or Christian ethnic

Romanians.

Jews who converted to Orthodoxy or to the Greek Catholic faith before August 9, 1940, and whose baptism is recorded in the registers.

Jewish foreign nationals with a valid passport.

Jews needed for the national economy and various trades.

a. Jews holding the card of exemption from forced labor issued by the Reevaluation Commission of the Labor Ministry. Workshop owners are not included in this category.

b. Physicians, pharmacists, engineers and chemists with diplomas from a local university or with equivalent foreign diplomas, even if they do not hold the card of exemption [from forced labor] issued by the Reevaluation Commission.

5 Jews over the age of 65. Jews between the ages 60-65 will be allowed to stay in the country only in cases where reasons of health make their transport impossible.

6 Jews holding one of the following military decorations: Virtutes Militara, Barbatie si Credinta with swords, Meritul Sanitar with swords, Steua Romaniei or Coroana Romaniei with ribbon of Virtuta Militara with swords.

7 Volunteers who fought in the Romanian Army in one of our wars.

8 Invalids, widows and orphans of Romanias wars.

9 Former members of the National Guard of Transylvania.

10 The chairman and two members of the district branches of the Center for Romanian Jews.

During the evacuation a special effort will be made to avoid separating husbands and wives, and children under the age of 16 from their parents.

With regard to the actual conduct of the evacuation operations, registers will be prepared by this office on the basis of the census of Jews from which data will be gathered for evaluation.

[Job] positions in the national economy which fall vacant after the deportation of the Jews will be transferred to Romanian refugees from [north] Transylvania which has been ceded [to Hungary].

The state subsecretariat for Rumanization has taken the necessary steps to insure that economic life will not be brought to a standstill as a result of these changes [population exchanges].

In order to make possible the establishment of a fund supplying cheap credit to the new Romanian enterprises and businesses, I propose to allow emigration to Palestine of a group of 3,000 Jews from among those designated for deportation to Poland in exchange for a total of 2,000,000 lei. The sum would be paid by the Center for Romanian Jews.

Transport of those Jews can be carried out by the Center for Romanian Jews, which would use available vessels, pending approval by the Ministry of the Navy.

ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT COMMISSAR
FOR THE SETTLEMENT
OF THE JEWISH QUESTION IN ROMANIA

Source: Jean Ancel, "Plans for Deportation of the Romanian Jews and their Discontinuation in Light of Documentary Evidence (July-Octobre 1942)," Yad Vashem Studies, Vol. 16, 1984, pp. 396—398.