Gheorghe Răscănescu (30 January 1900 – 1967) was a

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

n officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was born in

Crăcăoani Crăcăoani is a commune in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Cracăul Negru, Crăcăoani, Magazia, Mitocu Bălan and Poiana Crăcăoani. To the east lies Ghindăoani and to the north lies Bălțătești B ...

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

. After completing elementary school in his native village, he attended from 1912 to 1918 the Petru Rareș High School in

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; ; ) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its very privileged location in the Divisions of the Carpathians, Eastern Carpathian mountains, it is con ...

. In 1920 he enrolled in the Military School for Infantry Officers in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, graduating in 1922 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1924 he married Maria Iosub; their only child, Magda Maria Rășcănescu, was born two years later. In 1926 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1935 to captain. In 1940 he received the command of the 1st Battalion of the 15th Dorobanți Regiment, being promoted to the rank of major. After Romania entered World War II on the side of the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

, Răscănescu fought on the Eastern Front against the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. During the Siege of Odessa, his battalion was one of the first units that entered the city, on October 16, 1941. He then fought with the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army, under the command of General

Mihail Lascăr Mihail Lascăr (; November 8, 1889 – July 24, 1959) was a Romanian general during World War II and Romania's Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1947. He was born in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, Kingdom of Romania, and graduated from the Infantry ...

. After the Romanian front was broken in November 1942 at the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, Răscănescu and his battalion managed to escape encirclement, being the only formation of Lascăr's division to do so. Covering a distance of in three nights and one day, the battalion succeeded in getting to the Chir River with all its soldiers and equipment, and prevented the Soviet 8th Cavalry Division from capturing the vital German airfield at Oblivskaya from November 26 to December 3. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), 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. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and of the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...

, 3rd Class for his actions at the Battle of Stalingrad. In June 1943 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and assigned to the 3rd ''

Vânători de munte The ''vânători de munte'' (, ) are the elite mountain troops of the Romanian Land Forces. They were first established as an independent Army Corps in 1916 during World War I, and became operational in 1917 under ''Corpul de Munte'' designati ...

'' Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division. During the

Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

of August 1944, he fought to defend the

Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 30,766. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...

–

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

railway against the Red Army onslaught. After Romania switched sides in the wake of the coup d'état of August 23, 1944, he fought in the fall of 1944 in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

against the retreating German troops. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in February 1946, backdated to June 1945. In July 1958 he was arrested by the Communist authorities, and he was sentenced in February 1959 to 10 years of

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

for "trying to overthrow the political order." Incarcerated at

Gherla Prison Gherla Prison is a penitentiary located in the Romanian city of Gherla (), in Cluj County. The prison dates from 1785; it is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during the Communist regime. In Romanian slang, the generi ...

, he was released in November 1960. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

in 1967. Răscănescu's memoirs were published posthumously, in 2017.

Awards

Order of the Crown of Romania The Order of the Crown of Romania is a chivalric order set up on 14 March 1881 by King Carol I of Romania to commemorate the establishment of the Kingdom of Romania. It was awarded as a state order until the end of the Romanian monarchy in 1947. ...

, Knight rank (8 June 1940) *

, Officer rank (5 August 1941) *

(4 December 1942) (the lowest in rank foreign recipient of this decoration) *

, 3rd Class (31 March 1943), Romania's highest military decoration

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rascanescu, Gheorghe 1900 births 1967 deaths People from Neamț County Romanian military personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Inmates of Gherla prison Romanian prisoners and detainees People detained by the Securitate