Ion Antonescu, dictator of Romania, issued a secret order: Before the Germans and Romanians invaded the Soviet Union, all Jews in Bessarabian villages were to be murdered on the spot; Jews in the towns removed to ghettos; and anyone who served the Soviets during the year of Soviet rule was to be executed after being found guilty. A special unit was established as a spin-off of the Security Police, patterned after the Einsatzgruppen units, and placed under the command of Deputy Premier Mihai Antonescu. The unit was assisted by the Romanian army, and both of these agencies collaborated with the corresponding German entities. Some 150,000-200,000 Jews were murdered in July-August, mostly by Romanians.
