Ioan Dumitrache (25 August 1889 – 6 March 1977) was a
Romanian
major general during
World War II, in command of the 2nd Mountain Division. His troops (''
vânători de munte'') were recognized as the elite troops of the Romanian Army throughout the
campaign on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
of
Nazi Germany, awarded to him for capturing
Nalchik
Nalchik (russian: Нальчик, p=ˈnalʲtɕɪk; Kabardian: //; krc, Нальчик //) is the capital city of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwe ...
on November 2, 1942.
Biography
Early life
He was born in
Ciorăști
Ciorăști is a commune located in Vrancea County, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Ciorăști, Codrești, Mihălceni, Salcia Nouă, Salcia Veche, Satu Nou, and Spătăreasa.
Natives
*Ioan Dumitrache
Ioan Dumitrache (25 August 1889 ...
in 1889, in what was then
Râmnicu Sărat County
Râmnicu Sărat County is one of the historic counties of Muntenia, Romania. The county seat was Râmnicu Sărat.
Geography
Râmnicu Sărat County covered 3,324 km2 and was located in central-south-eastern part of Greater Romania, in the nort ...
(now
Vrancea County), in the
Muntenia
Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...
region of
Romania, the son of Gheorghe and Ioana Dumitrache. He attended the gymnasium in
Râmnicu Sărat and the
Alexandru Ioan Cuza High School in
Focșani. In 1909 he was admitted to the Military School of Infantry Officers in
Bucharest, from which he graduated in 1911 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1913 he participated in the
Second Balkan War, and was promoted to lieutenant in 1914.
World War I and the interwar
After Romania entered
World War I on the side of the
Entente
Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements:
History
* Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...
, Dumitrache took part in the
Flămânda Offensive
The Flămânda Offensive (or Flămânda Maneuver), which took place during World War I between 29 September and 5 October 1916, was an offensive across the Danube mounted by the Romanian Third Army (Romania), 3rd Army supported by Romanian coastal ...
in 1916. He was wounded in the battles of 1916 and 1917, and advanced to the rank of captain in 1917. After the war, he was admitted to the
Higher War School
The National Defence University of Warsaw ( – AON) was the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located in Warszawa–Rembertów. In 2016 it was succeeded by the War Studies University.
The National Defence Universit ...
in 1919. Promoted to major in 1920, he graduated in 1921 and was assigned as staff officer with the 1st
Vânători de munte Division in
Arad. In 1924 he was reassigned to the 1st Mountain Division in
Sinaia. In May 1929 he was promoted lieutenant colonel and named commanding officer of the 2nd Mountain Battalion in
Caransebeș.
Reassigned after two years to the Inspectorate-General of Territorial Command in Bucharest, he was promoted to colonel in October 1935, and put in command of the 4th Mountain Group in
Bistrița. Between February 1938 and March 1939 he also served as
prefect of
Năsăud County, being appointed to this position by
Prime Minister Miron Cristea.
In the fall of 1939 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Mixed Mountain Brigade, which covered the
Tisa
The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders.
The Tisza be ...
–
Maramureș sector. 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 to
Hungary in the wake of the
Second Vienna Award, his unit withdrew to the
Alba Iulia–
Hațeg area, with the command post in
Deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
.
World War II
On 10 May 1941 he became brigadier general and was named commanding officer of the 2nd Mountain Brigade, subordinated to the Mountain Corps of the
Romanian 3rd Army
The 3rd Army (Armata a 3-a Română) was a field army of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s. It fought as part of the German Army Group B during World War II, in Ukraine, the Crimea, and the Caucasus. General Petre ...
, under the command of General
Petre Dumitrescu. From 20 June, the Mountain Corps, commanded by General
Gheorghe Avramescu passed under the operational command of the
Wehrmacht's
11th Army.
Romania joined
Operation Barbarossa on 22 June in order to reclaim the lost territories of
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
and
Northern Bukovina, which had been
annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940. The 3rd Army started the offensive in Northern Bukovina on 2 July as part of
Operation München, attacking in the direction of
Rădăuți–
Cernăuți–
Hotin. Dumitrache's 2nd Mountain Brigade was the spearhead of the attack on Cernăuți, which was taken on 4 July. Together with the 8th Cavalry Division, it forced the
Prut River
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
and liberated the
Herța region; by 9 July, the entire northern part of Bukovina was under control of the Romanian Army.
The 3rd Army carried out heavy fights for
Hotin with the retreating forces of the
Soviet 12th Army. Dumitrache was awarded in October 1941 the
Order of Michael the Brave 3rd class for his actions in the reoccupation of Hotin.
Upon arriving at the
Dniester River
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
, the German 11th Army was subordinated to the
Army Group South led by
Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
Gerd von Rundstedt.
On 19 July, the 2nd Mountain Brigade crossed the Dniester and advanced towards the
Bug River, fighting with the rear echelons of the
Soviet 18th Army. On 10 August the mountain troops reached the Bug River, and then advanced towards the
Dnieper River, securing the left flank of the Wehrmacht's
XXX Army Corps. In mid-September, the 2nd Mountain Brigade crossed the Dnieper at
Beryslav, and then was deployed in defense in
Ulianovka and . The counteroffensive of the
Soviet 9th and 18th Armies north of the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
started on 23 September, but the 2nd Mountain Brigade offered stubborn resistance during the
Battle of the Sea of Azov
The Battle of the Sea of Azov, also known as the Chernigovka pocket was an Axis military campaign fought between 26 September 1941 and 11 October 1941 on the northern shores of the Sea of Azov on the Eastern Front of World War II during Opera ...
. At the beginning of October, the two Soviet Armies were surrounded by German and Romanian troops, resulting in a complete Axis victory over the
Red Army. In November the Mountain Corps was rotated back to Romania; after almost five months of combat, Dumitrache's brigade had suffered 1,926 casualties.
The 2nd Mountain Brigade was upgraded to a Division on 15 March 1942, and Dumitrache became its commanding officer. The 2nd Mountain Division left for the front on 6 July, at the start of the
Battle of the Caucasus. On 31 July it was in combat disposition with the 3rd Army in the
Rostov area,
from where it crossed the
Don River and advanced southwards, subordinated to the
1st Panzer Army
The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II.
When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...
under the command of General
Paul von Kleist
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (8 August 1881 – 13 November 1954) was a German field marshal during World War II. Kleist was the commander of Panzer Group Kleist (later 1st Panzer Army), the first operational formation of several Panzer corps in ...
. The first serious fighting occurred during the forcing of the
Baksan River and the establishment of a bridgehead beyond it on Height 910. In mid-October, the mountain division started a strong offensive, occupying the village of Saiukovo, and taking 400
POWs. On 25 October Dumitrache's troops started the offensive towards
Nalchik
Nalchik (russian: Нальчик, p=ˈnalʲtɕɪk; Kabardian: //; krc, Нальчик //) is the capital city of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Russia, situated at an altitude of in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains; about northwe ...
, in the foothills of the
Caucasus Mountains, forcing the Baksan River once again. The front was broken between the Soviet
295th Rifle and
2nd Guards Rifle Divisions; on 28 October, after fierce fighting in the hills and forests near Nalchik, the 2nd Mountain Division taking its objective.
The Battle of Nalchik ended as one of the biggest Romanian victories on the Eastern Front, with the capture of 3,079 prisoners and a large amount of weaponry and
war materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specific ...
. In the battles of Baksan and Nalchik, the 2nd Mountain Division lost 820 soldiers (157 dead, 647 wounded and 16 missing). For this action, Dumitrache received 2 November 1942 the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, in the rank of Knight, the highest Order of the
Third Reich.
The 2nd Mountain Division continued their offensive towards
Alagir and
Ordjonikidze, reaching on 15 November about from the
Grozny oil center.
Dumitrache's incursion constituted the farthest advance of the Axis powers in the Caucasus and the entire Eastern campaign.
Later that month, the Red Army started its offensive in the Caucasus, surrounding the
13th Panzer Division
The 13th Panzer Division ( en, 13th Armoured Division) was a unit of the German Army during World War II, established in 1940.
The division was organized under the code name Infantry Command IV (''Infanterieführer IV'') in October 1934. On O ...
near Mairamadag. Dumitrache's troops retook the Ordzonikidze–Alagir highway and allowed the German armored units to pull out. For its actions in the Battle of the Caucasus, the 2nd Mountain Division was nicknamed the "Flint Division".
On 1 January 1943 Dumitrache was promoted to major general, and on 15 February he was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd Class.
After the Soviet breakthroughs at the
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
, the Axis forces in the Caucasus were put on the defensive, and began to withdraw. The 2nd Mountain Division arrived at the
Taman Peninsula on 28 January 1943; subordinated to the German 52nd Corps from the
17th Army, it established defensive positions in the
Kuban bridgehead, on the western bank of the
Beysug River. After several more weeks of fighting, Dumitrache's mountain division was removed from the front line on 20 March, and was sent to the
Alma Valley in Crimea for reorganization. Between July and October, the 2 Mountain Division carried out wear and tear battles with the Red Army and
partisan detachments.
On 10 November, after the
4th Ukrainian Front
The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II.
The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, by ...
started its offensive on the
North Crimean Canal, Dumitrache took over the command of a Romanian detachment, made up of troops from the 1st and 2nd Mountain, as well as 10th and 19th Infantry Divisions, that contained a Soviet bridgehead south of the
Sivash Bay. After being relieved on 12 December by the German
336th Infantry Division, Dumitrache returned to the 2nd Mountain Division, and, together with a detachment led by
Leonard Mociulschi, eliminated over 3,700 partisans in the
Yaila Mountains. During the 4th Ukrainian Front's
Crimean Offensive from April 1944, when the Soviet troops broke into Crimea, Dumitrache's division was divided in two: one part at
Sevastopol, where it repulsed 24 Soviet attacks between 15 and 30 April 1944, while the other part was sacrificed by the German command in order to allow the retreat of the Axis troops from the
Kerch Peninsula. During the last days of the battle for Sevastopol, the remnants of the 2nd Mountain Division were evacuated, and Dumitrache returned to Romania.
On 1 August 1944, Dumitrache was appointed to the command of the newly reorganized Mountain Corps that was deployed on the Romanian-Hungarian frontier in Southwestern Transylvania.
The day after
King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944, when Romania switched sides and joined 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 ...
, the German troops occupied key positions in
Brașov. Dumitrache's detachment reacted quickly, and on 25 August, cleared the city of German troops, capturing 500
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
s and 6 guns. For the next few days his Mountain Corps, together with General
Grigore Bălan
Grigore Bălan (July 14, 1896–September 13, 1944) was a Romanian brigadier general during World War II.
Bălan was born in Felsőbalázsfalva, a village in Beszterce-Naszód County, Kingdom of Hungary, now Blăjenii de Sus, Bistrița-Năsău ...
's 1st Mountain Division, defended the front line between
Întorsura Buzăului and
Homorod, repulsing attacks of German and Hungarian troops, and blocking the roads for the Germans retreating northward from
Muntenia
Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...
. At the beginning of September, the Mountain Corps (which was subordinate to the
4th Army, under the command of
Gheorghe Avramescu) went on the offensive, in cooperation with the Soviet
33rd Army, the subordinate of which was the
Tudor Vladimirescu Division. During the
Battle of Turda,
Sfântu Gheorghe was liberated on 8 September and
Târgu Mureș on 28 September. The next offensive started on 9 October; Dumitrache's Mountain Corps pursued the retreating German
8th Army westwards, entering
Gherla on 14 October. The next day, the corps units were withdrawn to
Brașov and
Sinaia, while the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions continued the offensive towards
Hungary.
On 22 November, Dumitrache was decorated by
King Michael I with the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class with swords "for the way in which he distinguished himself in the heavy but successful actions during the period 24 August–12 October 1944, undertaken in Brașov, Sfântu Gheorghe, Târgu Mureș, Gherla, for the liberation of Transylvania."
Only two other Romanian generals (also mountain troops commanders) received the model 1941 3rd and 2nd classes and the model 1944 3rd class of the order.
After the war
On 7 March 1945,
Radio Moscow transmitted an informative note by which Dumitrache was accused of ordering, in October 1942, the killing of 600 prisoners, partisans, women, and children at Nalchik, as well as ordering the transport of materiel to Romania.
As a result of this accusation, he was arrested on suspicion of war crimes, and held under house arrest in
Brașov until 15 August 1946. Cleared of the charges, he returned as commander of the Mountain Corps with the approval of General , the President of the
Allied Control Commission in Romania.
On 23 August 1947 Dumitrache was promoted to lieutenant general; he retired from the Army a week later.
In the fall of 1948, the
Securitate resumed its persecutions, calling him more frequently for interrogations.
In February 1949 he was arrested again by the
Communist authorities for presumed war crimes, based on a referral prepared by Securitate General
Alexandru Nicolschi. Dumitrache was held at
Aiud,
Jilava, and
Văcărești prisons, ultimately being released in October 1950 for lack of evidence.
Dumitrache settled down in
Brașov, where he lived in obscurity, under surveillance by the Securitate. He spent many years writing his memoirs; the typed text was donated to the Brașov Museum of History and Archaeology,
and was published twenty years after his death in 1977.
He is buried at Saint Paraschiva Church's Groaveri Cemetery in
Șcheii Brașovului.
Streets in Brașov
and
Târgu Mureș, as well as an alley in
Buzău are named after him.
Awards
*
Order of the Crown, Commander class (8 June 1940)
*
Order of Michael the Brave
**3rd Class (17 October 1941)
**2nd Class (15 February 1943), with swords
**3rd Class (22 November 1944), with swords
*
Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class
*
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Knight' ...
(2 November 1942)
*
Order of the Star of Romania, Knight class
*
Order of the Cross of Liberty, Finland
*
*
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dumitrache, Ioan
1889 births
1977 deaths
People from Vrancea County
Carol I National Defence University alumni
Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War
Romanian military personnel of World War I
Romanian military personnel of World War II
Romanian Land Forces generals
Prefects of Romania
Prisoners and detainees of Romania
People detained by the Securitate
Inmates of Aiud prison
Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Burials at Groaveri cemetery