【質問】 ニコラエ・タタラヌって誰？

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

#OTD 13 January 1943: General Nicolae Tătăranu, commander of Romanian troops in the #Stalingrad pocket, boarded a German aircraft & flew out of the encirclement. He then headed to Bucharest. Thus beginning an interesting episode in #WW2. 🧵 @WeHaveWaysPod @WW2TV @thehistoryguy pic.twitter.com/NTqRdbDT0y

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Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

In summer 1941, Tătăranu was 1 of 2 deputy chiefs of staff of the Romanian Army. He & General Arthur Hauffe, chief of the German Military Mission to Romania (pictured with Marshal Ion Antonescu), negotiated the Tighina Agreement that turned Transnistria over to Romania. pic.twitter.com/xTPzHGS1Gk

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Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

In fall 1941, Tătăranu also worked on the staff of Romanian Fourth Army during the battle for Odessa after General Nicolae Ciupercă was relieved from command. He played a role in the Odessa massacre of Jews after the fall of the city.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

In winter 1941-1942, Tătăranu helped prepare a General Staff report recommending a minimum contribution to the eastern front in the next year. Antonescu chose a maximum contribution instead & demoted Tătăranu.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

In summer 1942, Tătăranu took command of the 20th Infantry Division during Case Blue & the advance to Stalingrad. Through fall 1942, his division helped hold the Axis flank on the Kalmyk Steppe south of the city.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

During winter 1943-1943, after the Soviet counteroffensive, most of the 20th Infantry Division ended up in the Stalingrad pocket. As the senior Romanian officer, Tătăranu also become responsible for the remnants of the 1st Cavalry Division & a few other units there too.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

Now he flew out of the Stalingrad pocket. There are three conflicting explanations as to why.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

1. Tătăranu claimed in a meeting with Antonescu, minister of defense, & chief of the General Staff that General Friedrich Paulus had ordered him to go to report conditions & ask if Romania could provide transport aircraft to help supply Axis troops in the Stalingrad pocket.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

2. Antonescu, in the same meeting, accused Tătăranu of being a coward & abandoning his soldiers. As former deputy chief of staff he should've known Romania didn't have more transport aircraft. He was ordered to return to the Stalingrad pocket or face court martial.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

3. Some months later, Hitler claimed that he had ordered Paulus to instruct Tătăranu to escape the Stalingrad pocket in order to save a brave & valued ally.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

Tătăranu boarded an aircraft to return to the Stalingrad pocket but he was in failing health & partway back he was interned in a hospital in Ukraine. He never faced court martial.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

A Stalingrad story for you @irgarner & @Iain_MacGregor1.

teo costea 🇷🇴 @teocostea1

@GHarward @WeHaveWaysPod @WW2TV @thehistoryguy Romania didn't ally Nazi Germany because of its ideology against Jews but because it wanted to survive. Germany had a bad habit to donate our territory to anyone, look what happened to Poland in WW2. USA was making money out of the war, and the UK was too far away.

Dr. Grant T. Harward @GHarward

@teocostea1 @WeHaveWaysPod @WW2TV @thehistoryguy Geopolitical factors were important, but ideology - nationalism, religion, antisemitism, & anticommunism - is central to understanding Romania's "holy war" that resulted in the mass murder of 300,000 Jews. My book goes into my arguments in detail & will soon appear in Romanian. pic.twitter.com/Bmuilm0Sxl

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