Romanian Legion in Siberia, Legiunea de tragatori

It is normal, because those men aren't dyng in battle, they survived the war, come back home from Siberia, and do their lives. From time to time, like other veterans, they meet each other in some places to commemorate the ones who don't survived. Those meetings were organised by CVRS, a kind of War Veterans Association. The names in the book is the list of members who founded CVRS (Casa Voluntarilor Romani din Siberia).

As the monuments in Cugir, and Vinereia are post Communist,
and erected recently, and has the names of those from the area
who died and those who served in WW1 & WW2, the fact that there
is no mention of the men who served in the Romanian Legion in Serbia,
is more than likely because those tasked with the compiling of names
being ignorant of the facts about this military unit.

Many of the monuments I have observed in and around Transylvania
make little distinction of which Army a man from the location fought
in only that he had served and in some cases died while in service.

The Romanians who served in the Romanian Legion in Russia 1918 - 1920
deserve to be recognised for that service and not written out of history through ignorance..

Kevin in Deva.

Unfortunatelly, about the romanian volunteers from Siberia (2nd Corp) or about those from 1st Corp, more than 99% of romanians never heard about them. The same situation about the last regiments raised by transylvanian volunteers in 1919, which also fought against bolshevics, this time in Hungary. During comunist times, this volunteers were not mentioned, because 2nd Corp from Siberia and those from 1919 fought against bolshevics. Elie Bufnea himself was imprisoned by comunists if I recall well.

A sad case when 22 years after the fall of communism in Romania the full story
of the military history of Romania is being kept in the dark.

Hopefully over the coming months / years some light is brought to bear on this subject
and the names of the men who were involved will be etched in stone and attached to the appropriate monuments.

May they + Rest In Peace +

Kevin in Deva.

I started to reenact transylvanian volunteers from 1st Corp in 2007 and since I and my fellows are going to diferent reenactment events in Romania and abroad in their ww1 uniform, trying to make the public aware about this volunteers. This year we'll be present at Military Museum Days in Bucharest in 7-8 May 2011, in ww1 transylvanian uniform from 1st Corp and maybe in the uniform of transylvanian volunteers from 1919, trying for the 4th year in a row to make romanian public aware about this part of the history.

The czechs are making a lot of reenactment events depicting their volunteers from Rusia and Siberia and they are knowing better their history. Unfortunatelly and sadly, in Romania everything is going in very slow rithm...

Romanian transylvanian volunteers reenacted by me and my fellows in 2009, celebrating the romanian took-over of Oradea in 1919. Parade. The flag is reconstructed based on ww1 photos and the remains of 2nd Corp volunteer's flag which is to be found at History Museum from Alba Iulia.


Czech volunteers reenacted by czechs, 2010, Czech Republic


Reenactment show in Czech Republic, 2010.
Romanian transylvanian volunteers from 1st Corp, czech volunteers from Russia and romanian regulars preparing to atack enemy positions.


Romanian transylvanian volunteers from 1st Corp, reenacted in 2010.


Reenactment in Czech Republic, 2010. Romanian transylvanian volunteers, romanian regulars and cossacks atacking enemy positions.


Reenactment in Czech Republic, 2010. Czech volunteer and romanian dragging a wounded romanian transylvanian volunteer from the line of fire.




This post has been edited by 21 inf on February 20, 2011 01:05 pm

There is a problem, however. These troops fought in a Civil War, in a country that was not theirs.
Unfortunately, as I read, TchS Legion have been involved in reprisals, with the Cossacks, in the Omsk region...
A very controversial action :
On Jan.15, 1920, Admiral Kolchak, the White leader of the Siberian Region, went out into the Czechoslovak Echelon, from Nizhneudinsk, in a wagon under the flags of GB, France, USA, Japan and Czechoslovakia, and came to Irkutsk. The Czechoslovak Commanders, at the request of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and pushed by French General Janin, retained and surended him. Night of 6/7 Feb. 1920, Admiral Kolchak and Prime Minister V. Pepelyayev were shoted, by order of the Irkutsk Military Revolutionary Committee.
Today, Admiral Kolchak is a hero in the Russian history...

Romanian volunteers were almost the only one on which comanders of Czech Legion could trust. This romanian volunteers stayed away from the civil war and political battles between reds and white in a time when the very czech volunteers were contaminated by bolshevic propaganda. As read about the fightings in Siberia, romanian volunteers interfered with reds only when they were atacked or when the reds (most common local bandits, thieves) had to be punished for their ambushes against romanian volunteer trains. In that ocasions, romanian volunteers saw their enemy as ordinary criminals, not as bolshevics. The deeds and political involvement of Czech volunteer Corp is another story and is different than of the romanian volunteers. When withe troops withdraw in front of Red Army in very hard winter conditions, part of this army arived to the trains of romanian volunteers. Thousands of civilians which followed White Army, including the family of the oficers, died in this retreat. Those who went to romanian trains asked for shelter, which was denied by romanians, who followed their strict orders not to help a side of other from the russian civil war. Heart-broken, seeing women and children freezing to death, romanian just respected their orders. However, they offered, against orders, shelter and food for some 30 white russians, oficers with their wifes. For the others, there were just not enough space and food.

http://www.arsbn.ro/user/image/11.-cazacu.pdf

http://revista.memoria.ro/?location=view_article&id=389
but :
The Kabarda Regiment was part of the "Savage" division (Dikaia Divizia) created at the beginning of the First World War and composed exclusively of natives from the Caucasus such as Tchechens or Tcherkesses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Division

??? !!! ??? !!! :
http://www.monitorulexpres.ro/?mod=monitor...tate&s_id=67856

This post has been edited by Petre on February 21, 2011 09:26 pm

This article is a very well written sumary for the odisey of romanian volunteers from 2nd Corp. I recomend it.

Further translation of 19.02
Issues agreed in The TchSv - Ro Treaty :

Thanks, Petre! What you translated now is the "contract" between romanian volunteers and the Czech Corp, when romanian decided to subordinate themselves to the czechs.

In fact it is between two political and executive organizations, The Romanian National Committee (RNC) and The Department for Russia (DR) of the Tchechoslovak National Soviet (TchSNS).
Some questions :
Who were those people of RNC ? (some names)
Did they also fought in RVC ?
Was really this Treaty fulfilled ? (Was an Army Corps set up, or something else smaller ?)
Some known CO ?

This post has been edited by Petre on May 19, 2011 12:50 pm

Comitetul Naţional Român was founded on 3rd of August 1918 at Celiabinsk. It's president was dr. Voicu Niţescu. CNR signed the above Treaty with the czechs, founding the 2nd Romanian Volunteer's Corp. After this treaty was signed, the RVC was practically born as a "mare unitate de luptă", until this date existing some transylvanian-bucowinean volunteer formations in Russia, but not a bigger unit. At 3rd August 1918 was formed the first regiment of 2nd RVC, named "Horia". Not to be confused with other RVC regiments called "Horia", the one from Italy and the one from Transylvania, raised in 1919 and latter renamed "Beiuş".

This treaty was signed on 24th of August 1918 in Celiabinsk railroad station.

At this date, chief of military section of CNR was dr. Nicolae Nedelcu, secretary of CNR was Corneliu Vaida and Simion Gocan was chief of financial section of CNR.

On 29 of October 1918, at Celiabinsk, CNR declared that romanian inhabited areas from Transylvania being united with Romania, before the Great National Gathering from 1st of December 1918 was held. This declaration of CNR is the following (sorry for romanian, I dont have time now to translate it into english):

"I. Miile de români din Rusia, originari din Austro-Ungaria, organizaţi într-un puternic Corp de Voluntari, au aclamat pe Maiestatea Voastră de Rege al tuturor românilor. Ei sunt gata şi aşteaptă ordinele Maiestăţii Voastre. La 29 octombrie, ei au proclamat desfacerea pământurilor româneşti de către Austro-Ungaria şi alipirea lor la România şi acum aşteaptă ca împreună cu vitejii lor fraţi din Regat, să încoroneze pe Maiestatea Voastră, cât mai curând, la Alba Iulia.

II. Corpul Voluntarilor Români şi Comitetul Naţional Român din Rusia depun omagiile lor în faţa Maiestăţii Voastre, cu prilejul continuării războiului din partea României. Românii subjugaţi din Transilvania, Banat, Crişana, Maramureş, Sătmar, Bihor şi Bucovina, sunt mândri de-a fi de aici înainte supuşii credincioşi ai Maiestăţii Voastre, iar Voluntarii Români din Rusia, urmărind cu încredere şi entuziasm înaintarea fraţilor lor de sânge şi de arme în adâncul moşiei strămoşeşti, aşteaptă nerăbdători ordinele Maiestăţii Voastre".

This proclamation was sent imediatly, by wire, to Wilson, presindent of USA, by dr. Voicu Niţescu, in order to let the former the will of union Transylvania to Romania.

Some videos here :
http://wn.com/Czech_Legion

Something here, but I didn't open yet :
http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/18221-br...ine-de-siberia/

And here, but maybe you know :
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showt...-in-Russia-1919

Good bye.

All these East Europeans still alive by 1940 could be a gold mine of information for the secret services of the Axis countries prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union. I am wondering if the spy guys bother to remember them.
From many points of view, the 1941 invasion of Soviet Union was a kind of jump into unknown.