Petre Cameniță (5 November 1889 – 1962) was a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

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 ...

. He was born in Poroina Mare,

Mehedinți County Mehedinți County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia and Bulgaria. It is mostly located in the historical province of Oltenia, with one municipality (Orșova) and three communes ( Dubova, Eșelnița, and Svinița) ...

in 1889 and graduated the Infantry Military School in 1911 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1913 he participated in the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

, and from 1916 he 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 ...

. From November 1918 to August 1919 he saw combat in the

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War was fought between Hungary and Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. The Allies of World War I intended ...

. After the war he attended the Higher War School, graduating in 1921. Cameniță was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1929 and to colonel in 1935. On 10 February 1938 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 ...

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Pitești. Demographics On 20 October 2011, it had a population of 612,431 and the population density was 89/km2. * Romanians – 97% * Roma (Gypsi ...

. After the assassination of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Armand Călinescu Armand Călinescu (4 June 1893 – 21 September 1939) was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as 39th Prime Minister from March 1939 until his assassination six months later. He was a staunch opponent of the fascist Iron Guard and m ...

on 21 September 1939, he ordered the execution of three members 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 ...

from

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in the historical re ...

, whose bodies remained exposed in the Public Garden for two days. Subsequently, he sought to have a bust of Călinescu erected in Pitești, and donated 5,000 lei towards the fund established for this purpose, but the plans were abandoned once the

National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a Totalitarianism, totalitarian Fascism, fascist regime which governed Kingdom of Romania, Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by ...

came to power. On 10 September 1940, Cameniță was appointed to lead the General Directorate of Police and State Security by the government of

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

. On 10 May 1941, in recognition of the role he played in defeating the Legionnaires' rebellion, Cameniță was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. From June to September 1941, he was first Commanding Officer 1st Frontier Brigade and fought on the Eastern Front against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. From September 1941 to January 1942 he served as Deputy General Officer Commanding 21st Division. He was Commanding Officer Infantry 1st Guards Division and then Secretary-General to Under-Secretary of State of Land Forces in 1942. After the coup d'état of 23 August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. From September 1944 to January 1945 Cameniță served as General Officer Commanding the 18th Infantry Division. On 19 October 1944 he was promoted to major general. In 1945, he was first General Officer Commanding VI Corps and then General Officer Commanding 18th Division. Cameniță retired în March 1945.Decretul regal nr. 860 din 24 martie 1945 pentru treceri în pozițiunea de rezervă, publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, general ...

'', anul CXIII, nr. 70 din 26 martie 1945, partea I-a, p. 2.259. His awards include the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Officer rank, and the

Order of St. Sava The Royal Order of St. Sava is an Order of merit, first awarded by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 and later by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was awarded to nationals and foreigners for meritorious ach ...

, 3rd grade.

References

External links

* 1889 births 1962 deaths People from Mehedinți County Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian people of the Hungarian–Romanian War Romanian military personnel of World War II Carol I National Defence University alumni Prefects of Romania Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Great Officers of the Order of St. Sava {{Romania-mil-bio-stub