The International Organizations for the Assistance of the Romanian Refugees (1948-1960) and the U.S. Office of Special Operations in Romania

• Main Author: Marius Iulian Petraru
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava 2018-07-01
• Series: Codrul Cosminului
• Subjects: U.S.A.; Romania; refugees; Romanian Diaspora; Office of Strategic Services/Central Intelligence Agency of the United States; Romanian National Committee
• Online Access: http://atlas.usv.ro/www/codru_net/CC24/1/refugees.pdf

Although after 1989 historians tackled the issues of the Romanian exile, there has been no exhaustive study done so far analyzing the main periods of the Romanian political exodus that started in 1947 and how this was organized in the fight for the liberation of the country from under the Communist Soviet Regime. Most studies dedicated to the exile preponderantly looked at aspects related to the Romanian cultural exile and the role of the Romanian intellectual diaspora in preserving and passing on the Romanian values unaltered by the Communist regime. This study will analyze the role and the activity of the Office of Strategic Services/Central Intelligence Agency of the United States in Romania between 1945 and 1947 and their involvement in helping the Romanian political class "escape" from under the Soviet authoritarian regime imposed after 1947. Special attention has been given to the different refugee’s categories and to the main international organizations who were involved in supporting them. If there has been no study performed so far about the plight of the emigrants from the concentration camps from Yugoslavia and Trieste, the author makes a detailed analysis of this situation and of the involvement of the American secret services and of the International Refugees Organization in assisting the refugees. The climax of the organization of the Romanian exile was that of the Romanian National Committee being formed. RNC was the only political entity that was recognized by the main Western offices as the only political body qualified to coordinate the movement of the Romanian diaspora in their fight for the liberation of the country from under the Communist guardianship.