The Holocaust in Romania and the Vapniarka Concentration Camp

Abstract

This thesis details the political and social circumstances leading to the implementation of the Final Solution in Romania. It provides a comprehensive backdrop for the understanding of how the Romanian Holocaust was conceived and executed and a case study analysis of the Vapniarka Concentration Camp that epitomises and sheds new light on this experience. In so doing, the work demonstrates points of continuity with other European locations in which the Holocaust was perpetrated, but also provides insight into unique aspects of the Romanian case. It explores the history and nature of Romanian antisemitism, the role and influence of Ion Antonescu, Romania’s fascist leader during this period, and details the experience of Vapniarka’s prisoners through a close examination of their testimony. In particular, the medical disaster perpetrated against the prisoners through what I posit was a cruel and uncontrolled programme of poisoning, is highlighted. I argue that this poisoning should be understood, at the very least, as a wanton, criminal and deliberate attempt on the part of succeeding camp commands, without concern as to the consequences. The carrying out of this programme of poisoning was implemented on the advice of Nazi officers and, as such, it is contended that this total programme should be seen as a part of a continuum of Nazi policies in which medical experimentation and abuse was utilised as a means of enacting genocidal policies.