Gavril Olteanu (1888–1946) was a leader of a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

group, part of the Maniu Guards during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which became notorious for the killing and deportation of ethnic

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. Olteanu was born in

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the List of cities and towns in Romania, 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 Romania ...

(Marosvásárhely),

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1888. After

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

was ceded by Romania to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in 1940, at a result of the

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

, he moved to

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

, where he took command of a paramilitary unit of the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...

. During

, this unit was active in Trei Scaune, Ciuc, Odorhei, and Mureș counties. Following

King Michael's Coup King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of 23 August 1944, Romania switched allegiance from the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. In early September, Soviet and Romanian forces entered Transylvania, captured the towns of Brașov and

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

, and engaged units of the Hungarian 2nd Army and the German 8th Army at the

Battle of Turda The Battle of Turda lasted from 5 September to 8 October 1944, in the area around Turda, Kingdom of Romania, as part of the wider Battle of Romania. Troops from the Hungarian 2nd Army and the German 8th Army fought a defensive action against R ...

. On 26 September 1944, in reprisals against attacks on Romanian troops by the local population, members of the paramilitary Maniu Guard led by Olteanu massacred a number Hungarian civilians in

Aita Seacă Aita (also spelled ''Eita'' in Etruscan inscriptions) is the name of the Etruscan equivalent to the Greek Hades, the god of the underworld. Images Aita is a relatively late addition to the Etruscan pantheon, appearing in iconography and in Et ...

village; 9 were shot, 2 decapitated, and 2 later died of their wounds. Other such incidents occurred in

Sândominic Sândominic ( hu, Csíkszentdomokos, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. It is composed of a single village, Sândominic. Demographic ...

Huedin Huedin ( hu, Bánffyhunyad, ; german: Heynod; yi, הוניוד or הוניאד) is a town in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. Huedin is located at the northern edge of the Apuseni Mountains. It is surrounded by the villages of Nearșova, Dom ...

, Aghireș, and other localities around Transylvania. At the request of Soviet representatives Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Vyshinsky and Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov on behalf of the

Allied Control Commission Following the termination of hostilities in World War II, the Allies were in control of the defeated Axis countries. Anticipating the defeat of Germany and Japan, they had already set up the European Advisory Commission and a proposed Far Eastern ...

,Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AMFA), note nr. V 120 from November 12, 1944 Romanian authorities disbanded the Maniu Guard, arrested Olteanu, and sentenced him to imprisonment. He died at

Aiud Prison Aiud Prison is a prison complex in Aiud, Alba County, located in central Transylvania, Romania. It is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during World War II under the rule of Ion Antonescu, and later under the Commu ...

in late 1946; some sources claim he was murdered, while others claim that he committed suicide by ingesting

strychnine Strychnine (, , US chiefly ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through the eye ...

Notes

External links

Atrocities against Hungarians p30-32

Chronicle of Cruelties pp80-85

Romania and Transylvania in the 20th Century, Ildikó Lipcsey p54
1946 deaths Romanian military personnel of World War II Inmates of Aiud prison Romanian prisoners and detainees Members of the Iron Guard People from Târgu Mureș 1888 births Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Holocaust perpetrators in Romania {{romania-mil-bio-stub