Romulus, My Father updates

Romulus, My Father Update

The following notes are taken from a number of internet sites and are backed up by information in the Historical Atlas of the Holocaust. They are intended as additional background material for students to use as they see fit. For photographs of Horia Simu, see Wikipaedia. Please note that the information on the Iron Guard has not been widely publicised and many people of Romanian origin apparently do not know about it.

Romanian History - World War II

The Iron Guard Timeline

• 1927 1927 by Corneliu Codreanu
• 1933 banned by the Romanian government. Members beaten and killed.
• 1937 earned 15.5% of the vote, coming third, but kept out of Parliament
• 1938 King Carol II became a royal dictator, had Codreanu killed.
• 1940 Horia Sima took control of the Iron Guard.
• 1940 allied with General Ion Antonescu to make the National Legionary State Government.
• 1940- 1 the Legion exterminated Jews and conducted political assassinations.
• 1941 removed from government. Civil War won by Antonescu with German help.
• 1941 Pogrom in Bucharest by the Legion.
• 1941 Horia Sima and other fled to Germany.
• 1941-44 Antonescu regime interned and killed Jews in Transnistria, Bessarabia and Bukovina. Romania had the second largest number of Jews killed in World War II, second only to Germany itself.
• 1945 Horia Sima went into hiding.

Features of the Iron Guard

• Known originally as the Legion of the Archangel Michael, member called themselves legionnaires.
• Members wore green uniforms and greeted each other using the Roman salute.
• Incorporated parts of Orthodox Christianity into its philosophy ( without the Church’s permission).
• Incorporated mysticism.
• Sections of the Legion were called ‘cuibs’ or nests and were held together by discipline, education, helping each other, silence and work.
• Wanted Romania to be a Legionary State with one party.
• Believed in getting rid of foreigners including Jews and Gypsies.
• Became a cult of death, martyrdom, suicide missions and violence.


Meaning of the names ‘Hora’, ‘Mitru’ and ‘Romulus’

The Horae (plural of Hora) were Graeco-Roman gods of the seasons. They were the children of Zeus, king of the gods and Themis, a titaness who represented justice and good counsel. Originally their names were Eunomia (Good Order), Dike (Justice) and Eirene (Peace). In the poem The Iliad by Homer, they were the guardians of the gates of Olympus.

Mitru appears to be the Romanian form of Mithra/Mitra, the god of many soldiers in the Roman army. He was the god of light and the protector of the Empire, with a temple in Albania.

Romulus was one of a pair of twins whose father was the war god, Mars. Thrown out of their home, they were fed by a she-wolf. Romulus killed Remus, and is considered the founder of Rome.