The end of the National Legionary State comes in January 1941. The legionaries` exercise of powers was disliked by Antonescu who considers that the exclusion of the Jews from society must be done gradually, without disturbing the functioning of the economy and social life.
Instead, legionaries took advantage of their positions as Romanianization commissioners, and they robed, and tortured Jews, and also took revenge on their former political opponents. Legionary organizations such as the Legionary Police or the Legionary Workers` Corps were undermining the authority and were endangering the social craved by Antonescu.
In January 1941, in the context of a German officer assassination in Bucharest, the conflict between the two actors intensified. The legionaries took over several ministries, the Bucharest Police Headquarters, the Bucharest Mayor`s Office, various police stations, prefectures, and other strategic positions. With the Army on his side, Antonescu initially remained defensive and reacted against rebels only on the evening of January 22.
Simultaneously with the legionary rebellion, in Bucharest, a pogrom takes place. In the Jewish neighborhoods Dudești, Văcărești as well as in areas intensely inhabited by Jews (Calea Rahovei or Pantelimon road), raids of the legionaries took place, joined by neighbors and individuals who wanted to rob. Homes, workshops, and shops are looted. Since January 20, Jews were grabbed from the streets or from homes and gathered in the headquarters of legionary organizations or places controlled by legionaries. About 2,000 people were detained in such sites.
Among the Jews tortured in the headquarters of the Legionary Workers' Corps from Calea Călăraşilor, a group of almost 90 Jews was taken to the Jilava forest and executed.
More than 125 Jews were killed during the pogrom. Synagogues, community headquarters, homes, shops, and other businesses were destroyed. A report of the Jewish Community released immediately after the events showed that 1274 commercial buildings and homes had been destroyed. More than 200 trucks loaded with legionary robberies were found hidden.
People and places in Bucharest: Calea Dudești
The only landmark that reminds today of the old neighborhood is the crossroad of Anton Pann Street with Unirii Boulevard. On January 21, 1941, at number 24 was the headquarters of the Jewish Community in Bucharest. In the middle of the day, a group of legionnaires entered the headquarters, picked up those present, and devastated the Community`s office. The same individuals returned with Sigmund Collin, the cashier of the Community, whom they forced to open the cash register. In one of the CEB headquarters' photos after the Pogrom, swastikas and legionary symbols drawn on furniture can be seen.
3 Dr. Burghelea St.- The Federation of Jewish Communities Union
In 1941, here was the headquarters of the Federation of the Jewish Communities Union, in the same building where Rabbi Șafran, and the owner of the building, the engineer C. Solomon, lived. On the evening of January 21, 24 legionnaires led by Dumitru Măruntu entered and devastated all the offices, then went up to the apartments above. For two days, Jews were brought here, beaten, and sequestered in the cellar.
Sigmund Collin was found a few days later among the Jews killed in the Jilava forest. He was 60 years old and a trader by profession; he had fought for Romania in the Second Balkan War and in the First World War. He had been decorated with "Avântul Țării" (country`s advent), "Victoria" and "Crucea Comemorativă" (Commemorative Cross).
Among those beaten and robbed during the Pogrom was the writer Felix Aderca (1891-1962). A literary critic, poet, playwright, essayist, publicist, translator, Aderca is one of the most important Romanian authors of Jewish origin. Nonconformist and innovative, he was a leading promoter of the European modernist spirit in the Romanian cultural and artistic life. The 1916 novel published by Aderca in 1936, is inspired by his experience as a fighter in the Great War and the years that followed. Also, the play Ballet Music is influenced by the events he went through during the days of the Bucharest Pogrom.