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 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 Poroina Mare,

Mehedinți County Mehedinți County () is a county () 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, Mehedinți, Dubova, Eșelnița, and Svi ...

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 that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

, and from 1916 he fought in

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 ...

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

Hungarian–Romanian War The Hungarian–Romanian War (; ) was fought between Hungary and Kingdom of Romania, Romania from 13 November 1918 to 3 August 1919. The conflict had a complex background, with often contradictory motivations for the parties involved. After the ...

. 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' ...

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Pitești. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, 2021 census, the county had a population of 569,932 and the population density was . At the 2011 Ro ...

. After the assassination of

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Armand Călinescu Armand Călinescu (4 June 1893 – 21 September 1939) was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as 39th List of Prime Ministers of Romania, Prime Minister from March 1939 until Assassination of Armand Călinescu, his assassination six ...

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

Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...

from

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (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 th ...

, 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 ...

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 Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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, 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 ...

. 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 government gazette, gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgation, promulgated bills, President of Romania, presidential decrees, Government of Romania, governmental ordinances and other m ...

'', 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 Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...

, Officer rank, and the

Order of St. Sava The Order of St. Sava () is an ecclesiastic decoration conferred by the Serbian Orthodox Church and a dynastic order presented by the house of Karađorđević. It was previously a state order awarded by both the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom ...

, 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