US News

The pogroms (veritable mass murder episodes) that took place in 1940 and 1941, such as the Iași Pogrom, were publicly justified by alleged Jewish armed subversion against [Axis] soldiers.⁴⁰

Reading about the alleged Jewish attacks against the army in Iași (June 1941), some better-informed Romanians, such as former Prime Minister Argetoianu, recorded their disbelief in the accusations: “The [insert slur here] have no weapons.”⁴¹ Despite the antisemitic slur, Argetoianu was right. Romanian Jews lacked weapons and military organization, key elements for any armed resistance.

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The agreement that the Jews of Kiev had to be killed in “retaliation” for the bombings and arson amounted to a diversionary maneuver. The [Axis] officers merely seized on them as a justification for the murders, which had been planned in advance on ideological grounds. The term “retaliation” was intended to create the impression of military necessity and thus justify it in the eyes of soldiers and members of the SS.⁸⁷

(Source.)