Ilie Gârneață (1898 – 28 May 1971) was a lawyer and founding member of the Legionary Movement, a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

movement in

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 ...

Biography

Gârneață was born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, in 1898. He served as a volunteer in the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. First attending a military school in

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

, he later studied law in Iași. In 1922,

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938), born Corneliu Zelinski and commonly known as Corneliu Codreanu, was a far-right Romanian politician, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion of ...

appointed him president of the local chapter of the Association of Christian Students. Gârneață's family lived in

Darabani Darabani () is a town in Botoșani County, Western Moldavia, Romania, and is the northernmost town in Romania. It administers three villages: Bajura, Eșanca, and Lișmănița. The town lies on the right bank of the river Prut, close to the t ...

, in

Western Moldavia Western Moldavia (, ''Moldova de Apus'', or , also known as Moldavia, is the core historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1878, the P ...

. In October 1923, Gârneaţă and five others (including Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Ion Moța, Radu Mironovici, Teodosie Popescu, and Corneliu Georgescu) were arrested in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

under suspicion of attempting to spark a civil war in Romania. The group, who became known as the ''Văcăreșteni'' (named after the

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

at Văcărești, where they were held), were accused of amassing arms and plotting to kill government ministers and Jewish business figures. In 1924, he was imprisoned alongside Codreanu and 11 others for the killing of Romanian Police prefect Constantin Manciu.

Legionary Movement

Gârneață was one of the founding members of the Legionary Movement (later known as the Iron Guard), and from 1936 onwards held the title of ''Comandant al Bunei Vestiri'' ("Commandant of the Annunciation"), the highest rank in the organization. Gârneață was a frequent contributor to ''Pământul strămoșesc'', an organ of the Legionary Movement which began publication in 1927. In 1931 he began to co-edit the

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

newspaper ''Cuvântul Iașului'' alongside Nelu Ionescu and Stelian Teodorescu. After the Legionary Movement came to power in September 1940, forming 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 ...

alongside

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

, Gârneață was one of only two "Commandants of the Annunciation" (the other being Radu Mironovici) who did not hold office. However, he proposed and led ''Ajutorul Legionar'' ("Legionary Aid"), a mutual aid network throughout Romania aimed at serving refugees from recently ceded territories of Bessarabia, Bukovina, and

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 ...

, and one of the higher-profile outlets of Legionary propaganda.

Exile and death

Following the Legionnaire's Rebellion and subsequent crackdown on the Legionary Movement by

, Gârneață fled with other Legionary leaders to Germany. He was initially put under surveillance alongside

Horia Sima Horia Sima (3 July 1906 – 25 May 1993) was a Romanian fascist politician, best known as the second and last leader of the fascist paramilitary movement known as the Iron Guard (also known as the Legion of the Archangel Michael). Sima was a ...

and other high-profile Legionnaires in a villa in

Berkenbrück Berkenbrück is a municipality in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. History From 1815 to 1947, Berkenbrück was part of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, from 1947 to 1952 of the State of Brandenburg, from 1952 to 1990 of the ...

, near

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He died in

Erding Erding () is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the Erding (district), rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019. The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Erding is ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on 28 May 1971 at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garneata, Ilie 1898 births 1971 deaths Members of the Iron Guard Politicians from Iași 20th-century Romanian lawyers Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Romanian expatriates in West Germany Romanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Inmates of Văcărești Prison