Portraits of Romanian Soldiers

My grandfather, Lazar Ioan, from Aciua (today Avram Iancu de Arad), as cavalry officer in 1944, age 22.


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My uncle, Hantiu Gheorghe, brother of my grandmother, from Halmagiu, Arad county.

Photo dated 6th of April 1945, at Turnu-Severin.

From him I learned that at eastern front (in Moldova in 1944) he lost a finger to a soviet mortar shell.
He was listed MIA on moldavian front in summer 1944 after his wounding.
He returned home in 1945.

Died in Halmagiu in 1997.


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This post has been edited by 21 inf on June 30, 2007 07:44 am

Photo found in my familly collection.
I dont know who the person was, he is not from my familly.

On the back of the photo is written with blue ink:
"Amintire din ziua cand am plecat pe front. 27. III. 944"
("A memory from the day that I departed for front. 27th of March 1944")

Sergent major Ursulescu Q (or O - it is unclear written).
Campulung Muscel

Photo by E. Constantinescu studio, Campulung Muscel.

The sergeant major Ursulescu has a insignia on his left breast pocket that is unknown for me.
Can anybody identify the insignia?


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Insignia detail


This post has been edited by 21 inf on July 01, 2007 08:31 pm

Photo found on my familly collection.

I dont know who the officer was, he is not from my familly.
I dont know his specialty (cavarly, infantry etc.)
Also, his name remains unknown, since the photo is signed only with diminutive "Nellu".

Photo taken on 20 July 1942, in the center of Halmagiu, Arad county,
in the front of the Heroes monument from WW1.

The photo was dedicated to a certain young lady named Victi.
(dedication written on the back of the photo with blue ink).



This post has been edited by 21 inf on July 12, 2007 07:37 pm

Photo of the same officer above, with his subunit.
He is the officer from the right side of the photo.


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Photo dated 20 July 1942, at Halmagiu.
Knowing Halmagiu, I can tell that the photo was made in the afternoon, after the position of the church seen in photo, wich is situated east from the slope the picture is made, and from the shadow of the unknown photographer.

On the back of the photo, written with probably initially black ink:
"Halmagiu
20 iulie 1942

Si acum...cand plec departe de tine - spre locuri necunoscute
[urmeaza un rand sters cu creion chimic - nota autorului]
iti las si aceasta poza pe care am facut-o
alaturi de ostasii mei pe meleagurile Halmagiului...de
unde adesea iti trimiteam gandul, dorul si dragostea
mea! Priveste-o si observa si tu ca inima
mea te roaga sa nu ma uiti.
Nellu

Lui Victi Balta

Loco"

Translation
"Halmagiu
20 July 1942

And now...when I depart to far away - toward unknown places
[follows a row deleted with chemical pencil - author's note]
I give you this photo that I made together with my soldiers
on the lands of Halmagiu...from where so often
I sent my thought and my love and from where I missed you!
Look at the photo and see yourself that my heart is praying that you remember me.
Nellu

To Victi Balta

Loco"

Picture has been highlighted for better better detail.

Kevin in Deva.

Nice pictures...
Keep posting.

Does the Ww1 monument still exsist and if yes any chance of seeing some pictures of it??

Kevin in Deva

That's an interesting topic.

If it's indeed a WW 1 memorial, it must be for the fallen soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Gen. Dénes

That's an interesting topic.

If it's indeed a WW 1 memorial, it must be for the fallen soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Gen. Dénes

For Kevin:
Yes, Kevin, for more photo's of memorial, please follow the link posted bellow.

For Denes:

It is indeed a ww1 memorial and it is not raised for AH soldiers.

It was raised by romanians for the romanian soldiers who died
liberating Transylvania, and especially that particular area.

Actually, the first ww1 memorial for romanian soldiers was raised in Halmagiu by my familly, from our own money.
The ww1 memorial from the photo's above is actually the second one raised in the memory of ww1 fallen romanian soldiers.

But because this is off-topic, I must open a different topic, wich could be read at http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=11&t=4110

This post has been edited by 21 inf on July 01, 2007 05:08 pm

That's the paradox I was referring to.
By 1919, WW1 was already over for several months...

Gen. Dénes

That's the paradox I was referring to.
By 1919, WW1 was already over for several months...

Gen. Dénes

I'm afraid this discussion is off-topic here.

Denes, you say it is a paradox, giving the fact that I said that the memorial is for ww1 soldiers.

Practically, the ww1 was over because there it was no fightings in Europe anymore.
Teoretically, the situation of the war was "armistice".
The peace treaty was not signed yet to end officialy the ww1.

On the memorial it is written:

"1916 They fought and died for land and for king 1918" indicating that it's a memorial for those who died in ww1;

In the same time, on the other side of the monument it is written that it was raised also for the remembrance of those who died in 1784, 1848 and 1919 from romanian side. This remembrance of other soldiers from other times doesnt diminished the initial and intented purpose to remember the heroes from ww1.

It is considered that it is was raised for those who died in ww1.

On the other side, the first monument (that which was raised by my familly), remembered only the romanian soldiers fallen in ww1 ("pentru intregirea neamului").

It is known that for romanians the ww1 was considered "Razboiul pentru Intregirea Neamului" ("the War for the Unification of the Nation") and romanian king Ferdinand I is called also "Intregitorul" (I dont know the translation in English of "Intregitorul")

Are those guys romanian ww2 soldiers ? ( the man in the right is my grandpa)
[img=http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2821/picture027hv6.th.jpg]

This post has been edited by Messerschmitt on July 02, 2007 07:51 am

O.K., 21inf, I see.
Thanks.

Now we can go back to the topic.

Gen. Dénes

I enhanced the picture a little, for better detail.

Romanian Mountain troops??

Kevin in Deva.