Courtroom sketch of Radu Lecca, by Eva Munteanu (1946)
Born
(1890-02-15)February 15, 1890
Ungureni, Bacău County, Kingdom of Romania
Died
1980 (aged 90)
Occupation(s)
Civil servant, journalist
Criminal status
Sentence reduced; released (1963)
Conviction(s)
Espionage (1931) War crimes, crimes against the peace, treason (1946) Illegal income (1948)
Criminal penalty
2-year imprisonment (1931–1933) Death (1946, commuted to life imprisonment) 2-year imprisonment (1948, nominally)
Radu D. Lecca (February 15, 1890–1980) was a Romanian spy, journalist, civil servant and convicted war criminal. A World War I veteran who served a prison term for espionage in France during the early 1930s, he was a noted supporter of antisemitic concepts and, after 1933, an agent of influence for Nazi Germany. While becoming a double agent for Romania's Special Intelligence Service (SSI), Lecca was involved in fascist politics, gained in importance during World War II and the successive dictatorships, and eventually grew close to Conducător Ion Antonescu.
After 1941, Lecca was Commissioner, later Commissioner General, tasked with solving the "Jewish Question" in Romania, sharing Romania's responsibility for the Holocaust. Advised by the special German envoys Manfred Freiherr von Killinger and Gustav Richter and acting with Antonescu's consent, he established the Central Jewish Office (Centrala Evreiască, CE) through which he persecuted, exploited and extorted the Romanian Jewish community, whose existence was threatened by deportations into Transnistria. The system he supervised was notoriously corrupt, with many of the funds extorted being used for the personal benefit of Lecca or his political associates. Commissioner Lecca was also instrumental in negotiating the Final Solution's application in Romania, a plan which was eventually abandoned, while considering mass emigration to Palestine in exchange for payments.
After the August 1944 Coup removed Antonescu and aligned Romania with the Allies, Lecca was among the high-ranking Romanian politicians arrested and transported to the Soviet Union. Upon his 1946 return, Lecca was Antonescu's co-defendant in a People's Tribunal case, and was condemned to death. His sentence was commuted into life imprisonment and later reduced by the communist regime. After his release, Lecca wrote memoirs which make various controversial claims, and which minimize his and Antonescu's participation in Holocaust-related crimes.
Radu D. Lecca (February 15, 1890–1980) was a Romanian spy, journalist, civil servant and convicted war criminal. A World War I veteran who served a prison...
playwright, and translator Linda Laura Lecca (born 1988), Peruvian boxer RaduLecca (1890–1980), Romanian spy, journalist, civil servant and convicted war...
Iamandi † Ion Ioanid George Ivașcu Leon Kalustian Remus Koffler † Radu Korne RaduLecca Gheorghe N. Leon Vasile Luca Horia Macellariu Nicolae Macici Ernest...
Armaș RaduLecca, emigrated to Corona (Brașov) in 1730; it was there that his grandson, the painter and Paharnic, was born. Constantin Lecca, Haralamb's...
with the creation of a Central Jewish Office. Supervised by Commissioner RaduLecca and formally led by the Jewish intellectuals Nandor Gingold and Henric...
consistently supported the reign of Șerban. Radu Buzescu, together with Preda Buzescu, is buried at the Călui Monastery. Lecca, Octav-G. (1899). Familiile boierești...
King Michael's entourage. The same month, Jewish Affairs Commissioner RaduLecca, whose office implied regular extortion of the Jewish community, collected...
coming into conflict with the SS. Meanwhile, Sergiu Lecca, who was the brother of Antonescu aide RaduLecca, took part in informal negotiations between Romania...
Iacobici [ro]† Ion Ioanid Modest Isopescu† George Ivașcu Gheorghe Koslinski [ro]† RaduLecca Vasile Luca† Horia Macellariu Nicolae Macici† Gheorghe Manoliu Gheorghe...
his wife Maria, and professors Mihai Antonescu, Gheorghe Alexianu, and RaduLecca, he was taken to Moscow, where the group remained until spring 1946.: 134 ...
Lanovari Ion Lahovary Nicolae Lahovary Constantin Langa-Răşcanu George Lecca Mircea Maliţa Corneliu Mănescu Simona Miculescu Nicolae Milescu Nicolae...
Richter was charged with setting in motion the Final Solution in Romania. RaduLecca, a Romanian politician who was charged with overseeing the status of Romanian...
Titulescu's Jewish backers, and claimed that he had once served time in prison. RaduLecca, appointed as Jewish Affairs Commissioner, initially considered relaxing...
playwright Nicolae Labiș, poet Iacob Lahovary, general and politician Constantin Lecca, painter and drawing teacher Ștefan Luchian, painter Alexandru Macedonski...
Iser Alexandre Istrati Stefan Jäger Marcel Janco Myra Landau Constantin Lecca Ștefan Luchian Victor Man Tasso Marchini János Mattis-Teutsch Henry Mavrodin...
displaying an early affinity for art, he took his first lessons with Constantin Lecca and Carol Wallenstein de Vella at Carol I National College. In 1850, he...
19th-century Romanian painter Constantin Lecca depicts the peace agreement between Ioan Bogdan Voievod and Radu Voievod—two leaders in Romania's 16th-century...
Global Information