Editing Ion Antonescu (section)

===Trial and execution===
{{see also|Post–World War II Romanian war crime trials}}
In May 1946, Antonescu was prosecuted at the first in a series of [[Romanian People's Tribunals|People's Tribunals]], on charges of [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against the peace]] and [[treason]].<ref name=r3/><ref>''Final Report'', pp. 317–331; Cioroianu, pp. 295–296; Deletant, pp. 245–261, 346–350; Frankowski, pp. 218–219</ref> The tribunals had first been proposed by the PNȚ,<ref name=r3/> and were comparable to the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in [[Allied-occupied Germany]].<ref name=r3/><ref>''Final Report'', pp. 316, 319–320, 331; Deletant, pp. 247–248, 261</ref> The Romanian legislative framework was drafted by coup participant Pătrășcanu, a PCR member who had been granted leadership of the [[Ministry of Justice and Citizenship Freedoms (Romania)|Justice Ministry]].<ref>''Final Report'', pp. 316–317; Frankowski, p. 219; Ioanid, p. 235</ref> Despite the idea having earned support from several sides of the political spectrum, the procedures were politicized in a sense favourable to the PCR and the Soviet Union,<ref name=r3/><ref>''Final Report'', pp. 313–331; Cioroianu, pp. 295–296; Deletant, pp. 245–261; Frankowski, pp. 218–219</ref> and posed a legal problem for being based on ''[[Ex post facto law|ex post facto]]'' decisions.<ref name=d248,255>Deletant, pp. 248, 255</ref> The first such local trial took place in 1945, resulting in the sentencing of [[Iosif Iacobici]], [[Nicolae Macici]], [[Constantin Trestioreanu]] and other military commanders directly involved in planning or carrying out the [[1941 Odessa massacre|Odessa massacre]].<ref>''Final Report'', p. 314; Deletant, pp. 172, 248–249, 328</ref>

Antonescu was represented by [[Constantin Paraschivescu-Bălăceanu]] and [[Titus Stoica]], two [[public defender]]s whom he had first consulted with a day before the procedures were initiated.<ref name=d251>Deletant, p. 251</ref> The prosecution team, led by [[Vasile Stoican]], and the panel of judges, presided over by [[Alexandru Voitinovici]], were infiltrated by PCR supporters.<ref>''Final Report'', pp. 313, 322; Deletant, pp. 250–251</ref> Both consistently failed to admit that Antonescu's foreign policies were overall dictated by Romania's positioning between Germany and the Soviet Union.<ref name=r3/><ref>''Final Report'', pp. 320–321; Deletant, p. 248</ref> Nevertheless, and although references to the mass murders formed just 23% of the indictment and corpus of evidence (ranking below charges of anti-Soviet aggression),<ref>''Final Report'', p. 321</ref> the procedures also included Antonescu's admission of and self-exculpating take on war crimes, including the deportations to Transnistria.<ref name=r3/><ref>''Final Report'', pp. 240–241, 252, 321–322; Achim, p. 168; Deletant, pp. 73, 252–255, 261, 276–277; Kelso, p. 97</ref> They also evidence his awareness of the Odessa massacre, accompanied by his claim that few of the deaths were his direct responsibility.<ref>''Final Report'', p. 245; Deletant, pp. 173–174, 252–253, 261, 276–277, 329</ref> One notable event at the trial was a testimony by PNȚ leader [[Iuliu Maniu]]. Reacting against the aggressive tone of other accusers, Maniu went on record saying: "We [Maniu and Antonescu] were political adversaries, not [[Human cannibalism|cannibals]]."<ref name=r3/> Upon leaving the bench, Maniu walked toward Antonescu and shook his hand.<ref name=r3/><ref>Deletant, pp. 255–256, 348</ref>

[[File:Antonescu execution.jpg|thumb|Antonescu's execution at Jilava, 1 June 1946]]

Ion Antonescu was found guilty of the charges. This verdict was followed by two sets of [[appeal]]s, which claimed that the restored and amended [[1923 Constitution of Romania|1923 Constitution]] did not offer a framework for the People's Tribunals and prevented [[Capital punishment in Romania|capital punishment]] during peacetime, while noting that, contrary to the armistice agreement, only one power represented within the [[Allied Commission]] had supervised the tribunal.<ref name=d248,255/> They were both rejected within six days, in compliance with a legal deadline on the completion of trials by the People's Tribunals.<ref>Deletant, pp. 248, 261</ref> King Michael subsequently received pleas for [[Pardon|clemency]] from Antonescu's lawyer and his mother, and reputedly considered asking the Allies to reassess the case as part of the actual Nuremberg Trials, taking Romanian war criminals into foreign custody.<ref>Deletant, pp. 255–257, 349–350</ref> Subjected to pressures by the new Soviet-backed [[Petru Groza]] executive, he issued a decree in favour of execution.<ref>Deletant, pp. 256–259, 349–350</ref> Together with his co-defendants Mihai Antonescu, Alexianu and Vasiliu, the former ''Conducător'' was executed by a military [[firing squad]] on 1 June 1946. Antonescu supporters circulated false rumours that regular soldiers had refused to fire at their commander, and that the squad was mostly composed of Jewish policemen.<ref>Deletant, pp. 259, 350</ref> Another apologetic claim insists that he himself ordered the squad to shoot, but footage of the event has proven it false.<ref>Deletant, pp. 5, 259</ref> However, he did refuse a blindfold and raised his hat in salute once the order was given.<ref>Deletant, p. 259</ref> The execution site, some distance away from the locality of [[Jilava]] and the prison fort, was known as ''Valea Piersicilor'' ("Valley of the Peach Trees").<ref name=r3/><ref>Cioroianu, p. 296; Deletant, p. 259</ref> His final written statement was a letter to his wife, urging her to withdraw into a [[convent]], while stating the belief that posterity would reconsider his deeds and accusing Romanians of being "ungrateful".<ref>Deletant, p. 260</ref>