Modest Isopescu (30 November 1895 – 17 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born

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

n officer, administrator and convicted war criminal. Born in

Frătăuții Vechi Frătăuții Vechi (german: Alt Fratautz, Alt-Frautautz, Alt-Deutsch-Fratautz) is a commune located in Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania. It is composed of two villages: namely Frătăuții Vechi and Măneuți ( hu, Andrásfalva). ...

, in Austrian-ruled Bukovina,Octavian Roske (ed.), ''Mecanisme represive în România 1945-1989: dicționar biografic'', vol. III, p. 274. Bucharest: Institutul Național pentru Studiul Totalitarismului, 2004 he entered the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

in 1916 with the rank of reserve second lieutenant, and fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was promoted to captain in the

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

in 1923, he was advanced to major in 1934 and lieutenant colonel in 1939. Romania entered

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 opposing ...

in June 1941 at the onset of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, under the Ion Antonescu regime. At that point, Isopescu was commander of a battalion in the gendarmerie, part of the Romanian 4th Army. He entered Chișinău with his battalion in July 1941, and in August he established a gendarmerie outpost in

Bălți Bălți (; russian: Бельцы, , uk, Бєльці, , yi, בעלץ ) is a city in Moldova. It is the second largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city is one of the five Moldovan municipalit ...

. He filled this position until October, when he was named

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of Golta County in

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate ( ro, Guvernământul Transnistriei) was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa and occupied from 19 Aug ...

. He remained as such until March 1944; meanwhile, at the end of 1942, he was transferred to the reserves. Under Isopescu's administration, the Golta district became a veritable "kingdom of death" for the Jews deported there.Ottmar Trașcă, Dennis Deletant (eds.), ''"Chestiunea evreiască" în documente militare române, 1941-1944'', p. 479. Bucharest: Institutul "Elie Weisel", 2010 In January 1945, several months after Antonescu was deposed in

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 ti ...

of August 1944, the Romanian government ordered the arrest of 65 persons, including Isopescu, for the "national disaster". Charged with war crimes, he was sentenced to death by the

Bucharest People's Tribunal The two Romanian People's Tribunals ( ro, Tribunalele Poporului), the Bucharest People's Tribunal and the Northern Transylvania People's Tribunal (which sat in Cluj) were set up by the post-World War II government of Romania, overseen by the Allied ...

on 22 May. On 1 June this was commuted to hard labour for life. He died at Aiud Prison in 1948, of cancer and a liver abscess.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isopescu, Modest 1895 births 1948 deaths People from Suceava County Romanian Austro-Hungarians Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Prefects of Romania People convicted by the Romanian People's Tribunals Romanian people convicted of war crimes Holocaust perpetrators in Romania Prisoners sentenced to death by Romania Romanian prisoners sentenced to death Romanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Romania Romanian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Inmates of Aiud prison Prisoners who died in Securitate custody Romanian people who died in prison custody Deaths from cancer in Romania Deaths from liver disease