Hermina Vlasopolos - April 9, 1984
The Iron Guard
What was it like in Romania before the war? Can you tell me about the Iron Guard or about--was there a lot of anti-Semitism? Was it difficult?
Very much, very much. I mean, it used to build, it started to build up. In Romania the Jews didn't have any, any rights until the First World, which were in the way that they were not they were not allowed--for instance, my father had an uncle who uh, who rented a, a ranch...
Mm-hm.
...you know, but he was not allowed to have it. And, and they, they were, the Romanians were angry with the Jews because they did not exploit so badly, you know, the peasants and so on. For instance, I'll give you an example that it was a revolt, you know. They used to start it with the ranch owners and it always--no they used to start with the Jews and then it used to spread out to the whole thing. First they started uh, with the Jews, with the Jews, the Jews in the countryside who--I mean, they had little stores, because I know my aunt had a store like there's a hardly, you know, I mean, they're living from one day to the other. And uh, I don't know how to, how to explain it. I mean, they were not violent against the Jews...
Yeah.
but they, they made the laws against the Jews, so it was the same thing. One, a person could have a license to sell liquor only if he was a veteran from the 1870 to '7...the War of Independence. And how many Jews were there, I mean, because it--very, very few. Besides this 1877 uh, it was, you know, a century, more than a century ago. And uh, so they, they were not--I mean, a lot of restrictions, after the First World War, I suppose due to the Western influence, you know, and so on, they had to, to ease on so that you could be uh, I mean, he, he could probably buy some land, but it was very, very late and everybody, you know, gave up in the, in the towns. And investments isn't started because not allowing them to do anything else, you know, nothing--there were no Jew in the uh, I mean, as a worker in the industry. Very seldom. Of course they, there were always people who were much more for the, for, for learning than the...
Sure.
...than the other people. And uh, they, the anti-Semitism, you know, always existed there. Besides that there were no, no other--here they harass the blacks, you know, a lot of people, you know, have release of their prejudices and so on. And there we were the blacks, you know, of, of Romania. And uh, it was quite open. It was not allowed after the First World War, by law, for instance. But uh, I, I don't know what I was told in school. And my father paid a lot of money, for instance, then. And he came and he really knocked with fists on the desk there and he said, "I don't want my daughter to hear any insulting word here." And they started to excuse themselves. But they could--I mean, you couldn't stop the other students from doing it...
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