The Socialist Republic of Romania, under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu was involved in secret deals with the Governments of Israel and West Germany, Romania getting paid for each Romanian of Jewish or German ethnicity to be allowed to leave Romania.
The Operation codenamed Peregrinii (Travellers) officially did not exist, all payments were made in cash and no Government employees from either sides were recognized as officials. The Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States – Western Europe was in full swing at the time when Ceausescu, under the condition of the utmost secrecy ,decided to allow people to emigrate if the cost for their education and a flat fee per person was paid.
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) or FRG as it was called at the time is estimated to have paid few billions of Deutsche Marks for around 250.000 Romanians of German descent, monies paid for in cash and transported by a private solicitor who acted as intermediary, a go-between the Romanian and West German governments.
All foreign currency was paid to the Romanian Secret Service, the much feared Securitatea, who along with the Stasi, the East German Security Service , KGB the Soviet Secret Service and the Bulgarian Secret Service, had the worst reputation in Europe even among their Western European peers and American counterparts. Israel and West Germany contributed with hard currency to their budget.
Nicolae Ceausescu stopped selling Romanian citizens before he was deposed from the leadership by the 1989 Romanian revolution, probably because he achieved his goal, yet Romania was the only country in the world who had no foreign debts and Romania could can start anew.
It is estimated that around 30.000 Jews were sold by the Communist government, after previously letting go to around 100 000 to leave Romania freely to move to Israel and to other countries shortly after the war, when the Romanian Communist Party had among its leaders Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn)of Jewish origin, who helped established the Communism Party in Romania.
Ana Pauker was the world’s first female foreign minister when she took office in 1947 and she held the unofficial tittle of ” Conducatoarea comunistilor din Romania”- the Communist Leader in Romania, after Stalin insisted that Eastern European countries should fall in his sphere of influence at the negotiations with Churchill and Roosevelt in Malta. She was declared by the American magazine Time on 20th September 1948 the most influential person of the year.
Ana Pauker. Cover Credit: ERNEST HAMLIN BAKER
The Romanian Jews like Ana Pauker installed the Communist Party in Romania, not knowing that the communists will eventually turn against her and her kin, because she believed that only the communism could offer a solution to a Europe divided by religion , ethnicity and fragmented in ways and to a scale never seen before in Europe. The Jews and Gypsies in Europe were exterminated all over the continent, including Romania, just few years before she took power in Romania
Ana Pauker, talking about the benefits of the communist system. She was often referred to as Stalin with a dress among the Romanians
Romania just recently accepted that the Holocaust took place on Romanian territory, including Romanian land occupied by the Soviets, Romania cannot and should not shy away from the Holocaust.
By paying damages, it is a first step towards compensating the Romanian Jews, but there is nothing for the gypsies, except for the technical word that Romania agreed that gipsies they can be called Roma or Romanis, even if foreigners will confuse and associate Romanians with the Romani people. Roma means – man in the gipsy language and they don’t have a written alphabet.
Israel paid a minimum of $2000 per head for every migrant and paid prices in the range of $25,000 for doctors or scientists. In addition to these payments, Israel also secured loans for Romania and paid off the interest itself and supplied the Romanian Army with military equipment.
The prices were determined by age, education, profession, employment and family status of each individual.
Romania moved on by electing a German ethnic as the president of Romania. Next could be a Hungarian, politician or a Gipsy woman. The Romanians are terrible at many things, including at holding grudges when they cast votes.