The Iasi Pogrom: Romania's Holocaust Prelude

In late June 1941, just days after Romania joined Operation Barbarossa, the city of Iași became the site of one of the deadliest pogroms of World War II. Over two days, Romanian soldiers, police, and civilians murdered thousands of Jewish residents in a brutal frenzy that foreshadowed the larger horrors to come. Lucas and Luna examine the chain of events: the false accusations of Soviet collaboration, the role of Ion Antonescu's regime, the organized massacres along with spontaneous violence, and the 'death trains' that carried survivors to their deaths. They also discuss the aftermath—how the pogrom was covered up during the communist era and how it has been remembered (or not) in modern Romania. This episode doesn't rehash the broader Holocaust in Romania covered in Episode 13, but zooms in on the specific mechanics and memory of the Iași pogrom, drawing on survivor testimonies and recent historiography.

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