Romaniani­zation and Half-Hearted Concessions. The Last Four Years of German-Language Education in Southern Bessarabia (1936-1940)

Abstract

The article discusses the status of German-language education in Southern Bessarabia in the last years of Romanian domination, before the Soviet the takeover in June 1940 and the subsequent resettlement of the local German population in September 1940. It shows that neither the national-liberal government (1933-1938), nor the regime of King Carol II (1938-1940) complied with the 28 October 1920 treaty between the principal allied powers and Romania respecting Bessarabia, an agreement which granted the Romanian nationals of German ethnicity the right to establish and manage schools, as well as to use the German language in the educational sphere. Both the national-liberal government and the regime of King Carol II obstructed public and confessional German-language education in Southern Bessarabia. They did not restore school buildings confiscated in 1936 and did not authorize the establishment of German-language schools. Only in September 1939 did the regime of King Carol II make some palpable concessions to the Germans of Southern Bessarabia, apparently as a result of the departure of the autonomist leader of the German community in Romania. However, even then, the Romanian state did not return all of the confiscated school buildings and seemingly further pursued the Romanianization of the local Germans.

Keywords

• education
• minorities
• bessarabia germans
• romanianization
• regime of carol ii