Valerian Trifa
Encyclopedia
Valerian Trifa was a Romania
n Orthodox
cleric and fascist
political activist, who served as archbishop
of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America and Canada
. For part of his life, he was a naturalized
citizen of the United States
.
A prominent affiliate of the Iron Guard
, a Romanian fascist organization also known as the Legionnaire Movement, Trifa played a part in provoking the Legionnaires' Rebellion
of 1941. His antisemitic discourse was suspected of helping instigate the parallel pogrom
against the Jewish community
in Bucharest
. After being singled out as a rebel by Ion Antonescu
, Romania's Conducător
and a competitor of the Iron Guard, he spent the final years of World War II
in Nazi Germany
, as a detainee with privileged status. Trifa subsequently made his way into the United States, where he came to lead the Romanian-American
Orthodox community into opposition with the main Orthodox church in Communist Romania
.
Beginning in 1975, his wartime activities came to the attention of the United States Department of Justice
, and the subsequent inquiry made Trifa relinquish his American citizenship and move to Portugal
. The scandal's ramifications came to involve several institutions, including the National Council of Churches
, Radio Free Europe
, West German
law enforcement, and the Israel
i and Portuguese governments, while allegations surfaced that Romania's secret police, the Securitate
, was using the controversy to advance its own goals.
, Transylvania
(in Austria-Hungary
at the time), he was the son of schoolteacher Dionisie Trifa, and the nephew of Iosif Trifa
, an Orthodox priest who founded Oastea Domnului ("The Lord's Army"), a mystical movement. He studied at the school of his native village, then at the Horia Gymnasium of Câmpeni and the Gheorghe Lazăr High School of Sibiu
, from which he graduated in 1931. Between 1931 and 1935, he studied theology in at the University of Chişinău, graduating magna cum laude
. He then studied philosophy at the University of Bucharest
and, in 1939, history and journalism at the University of Berlin. Trifa's first employment was with Oastea Domnului, being charged with managing its publishing house: he issued the movement's eponymous magazine, its other journal Lumina Satelor, and the books of his uncle Iosif.
While a student, Trifa joined the Iron Guard, and was a contributor to its Orăştie
-based Libertatea newspaper; in 1940, during the National Legionary State
(the period when the Iron Guard was in power), he was elected president of the National Union of Romanian Christian Students, a Legionnaire organization.
, he became involved in the January 1941 confrontation between Sima's Legionnaires and Antonescu. In early 1941, the conflict for power turned into an Iron Guard-led failed rebellion and a pogrom
against the Jewish
population in Bucharest
(resulting in over one hundred deaths, with both Jewish and Romanian victims).
Known as the Legionnaires' Rebellion
, the event was partly motivated by the killing of a German Reich
resident and local Abwehr
chief, Major Döring — which was probably accomplished with assistance from the British
Intelligence Service
. In this context, Trifa issued several statements which played a part in instigating the riots. They were noted for their antisemitic remarks, and included arguments such as "A group of Jews and Jew-lovers are ruling everything". In one of his manifesto
s, Trifa blamed the Jews in general for Döring's assassination, while nominating two politicians associated with Antonescu (Eugen Cristescu
and the former Undersecretary of the Interior Alexandru Rioşanu), whom, he alleged, were protectors of the Jews. His text, which relied on the assumption that Döring had been killed by Greek
agents and formed part of a Legionnaire press campaign, read:
in the camps of Sachsenhausen
, Buchenwald
and Dachau. Romanian authorities tried him in absentia
, alongside other Iron Guard leaders, and sentenced him to life imprisonment
and labor. In early 1943, while in Buchenwald, Trifa was among the prominent Legionnaires who agreed to disavow Sima's policies (the group also included Vasile Iasinschi, Ilie Gârneaţă, Constantin Popovici, Dumitru Grozea, and Corneliu Georgescu). According to historian Radu Ioanid, this move was mediated by German officials, who hoped to obtain a reconciliation between Antonescu and the Iron Guard. Ioanid, who described the Legionnaires' internment as a "bearable regime" in comparison to that of other prisoners in the same camps, noted that they were visited by high-ranking Nazi officials who warned them not to engage in any political activity. In a June 2007 article, the Italian
weekly L'Espresso
defined Trifa as "a guest in Germany, protected by the Nazis".
After Trifa was freed, he was briefly the secretary of Metropolitan bishop
Visarion Puiu
in Vienna
and then Paris
, and, following the end of World War II
, he was a was professor of ancient history
in Italy, at a Roman Catholic
college. He moved to the United States on July 17, 1950, using the Displaced Persons Immigration Law. According to L'Espresso, this was made possible by the intervention of a "high-ranking [Italian Catholic] prelate".
He was subsequently a writer at the Solia Romanian language
newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio
. At the Congress of the dissident Romanian Orthodox Church in America
held in Chicago
on July 2, 1951, Trifa was chosen bishop and then moved to Grass Lake
, Michigan
, where the headquarters of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate is located. This came after he led his congregation in occupying the residence, thus chasing away representatives of the Orthodox Church in Romania — as the latter was by then subordinated to the Romanian Communist Party
.
In 1955, he gave the opening prayer before the United States Senate
and he became a member of the governing board of the National Council of Churches
. Fifteen years later, he became an archbishop, as his church wanted to affirm its autonomy.
and Jewish community activist, was involved in collecting evidence to have Trifa tried for war crimes in the American justice system. In time, Kremer succeeded in bringing attention to his cause: according to Time
, Trifa's file was reopened "largely through his efforts".
The United States Department of Justice
started its case against Trifa in 1975, the core of its argument being that he entered the United States under false pretenses, hiding his Iron Guard membership. American authorities also reported that Trifa had mentioned his interment in Nazi camps, but had not made it clear that he had benefited from preferential treatment. In October 1976, a group of members of the Concerned Jewish Youth organization took over the headquarters of the National Council of Churches building, as a protest against the refusal of the organization to oust Trifa. The archbishop was ousted from the body in November, after the Council stated that, in what concerns Nazi atrocities, "we cannot allow any doubt about a complete repudiation".
When focus shifted to his role in the 1941 Rebellion, Trifa denied his involvement, despite being confronted with evidence (sent by the Romanian communist government
), including a photo of him in an Iron Guard uniform and texts of his pro-Nazi speeches and articles. He claimed he was not ashamed of his past, as he had no alternatives and he did what he thought was best for the Romanian people, and attributed authorship of his 1941 inflammatory speeches to other persons. He nevertheless admitted having lied to American authorities upon entering the United States. Further evidence against Trifa was a postcard addressed to Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler
and signed by "Viorel Trifa". Trifa denied ever writing it, but, using imaging techniques, American forensic scientists managed to recover a latent fingerprint identified as belonging to him.
The Israel
i prosecutor Gideon Hausner
pressured for the extradition
of Valerian Trifa so that Israel could try Trifa for crimes against humanity, but the Israeli government never made any official extradition claim. An offer for extradition was made in April 1983 by the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
headed by Neal Sher
, but was rejected the Israeli government. When news of this refusal leaked to the Israeli press, a polemic was sparked between Hausner and Menachem Begin
's executive, but the latter chose not to reconsider its earlier decision. According to The New York Times
, the stance may have implied that "the Israelis did not feel they could build a sufficient war crimes case against [Trifa]." In parallel, Charles Kremer stated his dissatisfaction with Israel's decision.
At the time, Trifa's early convictions caused another scandal. In May 1979, upon instructions from Noël Bernard
, Radio Free Europe
's Romanian contributor Liviu Floda interviewed Trifa on his Church's activities. Bernard's initiative was allegedly questioned by Floda and his employers alike. News of the interview's broadcast caused virulent reactions inside the United States, and resulted in a hearing by a subcommittee of the United States House Committee on International Relations.
Nevertheless, his adversaries considered Trifa's to be an admission of guilt, in respect to both the technical charge and the accusations of war crimes. According to Time, although Trifa's defense team rejected the claims, it did not deny Trifa's fascist and antisemitic convictions and speeches, including the 1941 statements, but stated that its client had no intention of causing a pogrom. They also argued that Valerian Trifa had acted after being forced to choose between the pro-Soviet
and the pro-Nazi camps, contending that antisemitism was "rampant at the time."
After spending two years searching for a country to give him refuge, he settled in Estoril
, Portugal
. In an interview he gave shortly before leaving, Valerian Trifa claimed that he had "happened to get put in a moment of history when some people wanted to make a point. The point was to revive the Holocaust
. But all this talk by the Jews about the Holocaust is going to backfire."
In autumn 1984, the authorities declared the archbishop an undesirable, and indicated that he had failed to reveal his fascist sympathies upon requesting and obtaining a temporary visa
. According to Reuters
, Portuguese officials indicated that "it was against Portugal's interests for Archbishop Trifa to live here and he must leave as soon as possible." Initially, they allowed the prelate three months to leave the country's territory. Trifa contested the decision with the Supreme Administrative Court.
Valerian Trifa died at the age of 72, in a Cascais
hospital where he was undergoing emergency treatment for a heart attack
.
, a former general in the communist secret police (the Securitate
) who defected to the United States, claimed that Trifa had been the victim of a frameup
engineered by his former colleagues. Pacepa linked this to an alleged trip by Romanian bishop Bartolomeu Anania
to the United States, of which he claimed was a common attempt of the regime and the main Orthodox Church to quell the dissidence of Romanian-American Orthodox believers.
In a 2003 article for Revista 22
, Noël Bernard's wife, Ioana Măgură Bernard, noted that her husband was being targeted by the Securitate, and argued that, especially after the Trifa interview, the communist institution attempted to stir up animosity inside Radio Free Europe in order to have Bernard stripped of his position. Based on evidence from her husband's Securitate file, she also described Bernard's mysterious 1981 death as an assassination, arguing that it formed the culmination of various failed attempts to silence him.
Elements of the Trifa case have been the topic of an episode in the documentary
series Forensic Files
, aired by the United States television station Court TV
in January 2001. The piece, titled Unholy Vows, discussed the forensic evidence gathered from Trifa's correspondence. In its press release of the time, Court TV stated: "[the] 40 year-old-print is the oldest latent print ever detected by any law enforcement agency." The station also argued that the identification had played a major part in Trifa's decision to surrender his American citizenship.
In 2007, journalists at L'Espresso
cited Trifa among the suspected war criminals who, it claimed, may have been actively aided by the Roman Catholic Church
in avoiding investigation. The magazine suggested that the frequency of such cases could help explain why Italy had been resisting the ratification
needed for opening the International Tracing Service
archives managed by the International Committee of the Red Cross
and kept in Bad Arolsen
.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
cleric and fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
political activist, who served as archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the Romanian Orthodox Church in America and Canada
Orthodox Church in America Romanian Episcopate
The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America is one of three ethnic dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America , and a former diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church...
. For part of his life, he was a naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
citizen of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
A prominent affiliate of the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
, a Romanian fascist organization also known as the Legionnaire Movement, Trifa played a part in provoking the Legionnaires' Rebellion
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
of 1941. His antisemitic discourse was suspected of helping instigate the parallel pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
against the Jewish community
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. After being singled out as a rebel by Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
, Romania's Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
and a competitor of the Iron Guard, he spent the final years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, as a detainee with privileged status. Trifa subsequently made his way into the United States, where he came to lead the Romanian-American
Romanian-American
A Romanian American is a citizen of the United States who has significant Romanian heritage. For the 2000 US Census, 367,310 Americans indicated Romanian as their first ancestry, while 462,526 persons declared to have Romanian ancestry...
Orthodox community into opposition with the main Orthodox church in Communist Romania
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
.
Beginning in 1975, his wartime activities came to the attention of the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, and the subsequent inquiry made Trifa relinquish his American citizenship and move to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The scandal's ramifications came to involve several institutions, including the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
, Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
, West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
law enforcement, and the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i and Portuguese governments, while allegations surfaced that Romania's secret police, the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
, was using the controversy to advance its own goals.
Early life and activism
Born in CâmpeniCâmpeni
Câmpeni is a town in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. As of July 2002 the town had a population of 8,080 inhabitants...
, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
(in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
at the time), he was the son of schoolteacher Dionisie Trifa, and the nephew of Iosif Trifa
Iosif Trifa
Iosif Trifa was a Romanian Orthodox priest and evangelist. He founded "Oastea Domnului" , which was a mystical movement. He was also the uncle of Valerian Trifa. Trifa placed on the 100 greatest Romanians list....
, an Orthodox priest who founded Oastea Domnului ("The Lord's Army"), a mystical movement. He studied at the school of his native village, then at the Horia Gymnasium of Câmpeni and the Gheorghe Lazăr High School of Sibiu
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
, from which he graduated in 1931. Between 1931 and 1935, he studied theology in at the University of Chişinău, graduating magna cum laude
Latin honors
Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...
. He then studied philosophy at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
and, in 1939, history and journalism at the University of Berlin. Trifa's first employment was with Oastea Domnului, being charged with managing its publishing house: he issued the movement's eponymous magazine, its other journal Lumina Satelor, and the books of his uncle Iosif.
While a student, Trifa joined the Iron Guard, and was a contributor to its Orăştie
Orastie
Orăștie is a city in Hunedoara County, south-western Transylvania, Romania.-History:7th–9th century – on the site of an old swamp , which today is the old center of town, it was a human settlement whose traces have been scattered into the X-th century by the construction of the first...
-based Libertatea newspaper; in 1940, during the National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
(the period when the Iron Guard was in power), he was elected president of the National Union of Romanian Christian Students, a Legionnaire organization.
Legionnaires' Rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom
Although hostile to the Guard's new leader, Horia SimaHoria Sima
Horia Sima was a Romanian fascist politician. After 1938, he was the second and last leader of the fascist and antisemitic para-military movement known as the Iron Guard.-In Romania:...
, he became involved in the January 1941 confrontation between Sima's Legionnaires and Antonescu. In early 1941, the conflict for power turned into an Iron Guard-led failed rebellion and a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
against the Jewish
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
population in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
(resulting in over one hundred deaths, with both Jewish and Romanian victims).
Known as the Legionnaires' Rebellion
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
, the event was partly motivated by the killing of a German Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
resident and local Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
chief, Major Döring — which was probably accomplished with assistance from the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
. In this context, Trifa issued several statements which played a part in instigating the riots. They were noted for their antisemitic remarks, and included arguments such as "A group of Jews and Jew-lovers are ruling everything". In one of his manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
s, Trifa blamed the Jews in general for Döring's assassination, while nominating two politicians associated with Antonescu (Eugen Cristescu
Eugen Cristescu
Eugen Cristescu was the second head of the Kingdom of Romania's domestic espionage agency, the Secret Intelligence Service , forerunner of today's SRI. He previously served as head of Siguranţa Statului, the secret police.-Early life:Cristescu was born in Oituz, Bacău County into a large, poor...
and the former Undersecretary of the Interior Alexandru Rioşanu), whom, he alleged, were protectors of the Jews. His text, which relied on the assumption that Döring had been killed by Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
agents and formed part of a Legionnaire press campaign, read:
"[...] the protectors and defenders of this Greek-origin assassin are: Eugen Cristescu, chief of the [Romanian] secret service and a former confidant of Armand CălinescuArmand CalinescuArmand Călinescu was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as Prime Minister between March 1939 and the time of his death.-Early life:...
[the former Prime Minister and Iron Guard adversary, assassinated by the Legionnaries in 1939] and Alexandru Rioşanu, the man of the Jews and of the Greeks [...]. We demand the replacement of all Jew-turned [jidovite] persons inside the government."
Internment and early self-exile
Following Antonescu's repression of the rebels, Viorel Trifa fled to the Reich, where he was internedInternment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in the camps of Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, Buchenwald
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
and Dachau. Romanian authorities tried him in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, alongside other Iron Guard leaders, and sentenced him to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
and labor. In early 1943, while in Buchenwald, Trifa was among the prominent Legionnaires who agreed to disavow Sima's policies (the group also included Vasile Iasinschi, Ilie Gârneaţă, Constantin Popovici, Dumitru Grozea, and Corneliu Georgescu). According to historian Radu Ioanid, this move was mediated by German officials, who hoped to obtain a reconciliation between Antonescu and the Iron Guard. Ioanid, who described the Legionnaires' internment as a "bearable regime" in comparison to that of other prisoners in the same camps, noted that they were visited by high-ranking Nazi officials who warned them not to engage in any political activity. In a June 2007 article, the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
weekly L'Espresso
L'Espresso
l'Espresso is an Italian newsmagazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies, the other being Panorama. Since the latter has been acquired by right-wing tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, l'Espresso enjoys the reputation of being the main politically independent newsmagazine...
defined Trifa as "a guest in Germany, protected by the Nazis".
After Trifa was freed, he was briefly the secretary of Metropolitan bishop
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
Visarion Puiu
Visarion Puiu
Visarion Puiu was a metropolitan bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Church....
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and then Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and, following the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was a was professor of ancient history
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
in Italy, at a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
college. He moved to the United States on July 17, 1950, using the Displaced Persons Immigration Law. According to L'Espresso, this was made possible by the intervention of a "high-ranking [Italian Catholic] prelate".
He was subsequently a writer at the Solia Romanian language
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. At the Congress of the dissident Romanian Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America Romanian Episcopate
The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America is one of three ethnic dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America , and a former diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church...
held in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on July 2, 1951, Trifa was chosen bishop and then moved to Grass Lake
Grass Lake, Michigan
Grass Lake is a village in Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,082 at the 2000 census.In 1842 the Michigan Central Railroad bypassed the original village and built a depot to the west...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, where the headquarters of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate is located. This came after he led his congregation in occupying the residence, thus chasing away representatives of the Orthodox Church in Romania — as the latter was by then subordinated to the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
.
In 1955, he gave the opening prayer before the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and he became a member of the governing board of the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
. Fifteen years later, he became an archbishop, as his church wanted to affirm its autonomy.
Department of Justice investigation
As early as 1957, Charles Kremer, a Romanian-born dentistDentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
and Jewish community activist, was involved in collecting evidence to have Trifa tried for war crimes in the American justice system. In time, Kremer succeeded in bringing attention to his cause: according to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Trifa's file was reopened "largely through his efforts".
The United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
started its case against Trifa in 1975, the core of its argument being that he entered the United States under false pretenses, hiding his Iron Guard membership. American authorities also reported that Trifa had mentioned his interment in Nazi camps, but had not made it clear that he had benefited from preferential treatment. In October 1976, a group of members of the Concerned Jewish Youth organization took over the headquarters of the National Council of Churches building, as a protest against the refusal of the organization to oust Trifa. The archbishop was ousted from the body in November, after the Council stated that, in what concerns Nazi atrocities, "we cannot allow any doubt about a complete repudiation".
When focus shifted to his role in the 1941 Rebellion, Trifa denied his involvement, despite being confronted with evidence (sent by the Romanian communist government
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
), including a photo of him in an Iron Guard uniform and texts of his pro-Nazi speeches and articles. He claimed he was not ashamed of his past, as he had no alternatives and he did what he thought was best for the Romanian people, and attributed authorship of his 1941 inflammatory speeches to other persons. He nevertheless admitted having lied to American authorities upon entering the United States. Further evidence against Trifa was a postcard addressed to Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
and signed by "Viorel Trifa". Trifa denied ever writing it, but, using imaging techniques, American forensic scientists managed to recover a latent fingerprint identified as belonging to him.
The Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i prosecutor Gideon Hausner
Gideon Hausner
Gideon Hausner was an Israeli jurist and politician. Between 1960 and 1963 he served as Attorney General, and was later elected to the Knesset and served in the cabinet....
pressured for the extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
of Valerian Trifa so that Israel could try Trifa for crimes against humanity, but the Israeli government never made any official extradition claim. An offer for extradition was made in April 1983 by the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations
The Office of Special Investigations was a unit within the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Its purpose was to detect and investigate individuals who took part in state sponsored acts committed in violation of public international law, such as crimes against humanity.In...
headed by Neal Sher
Neal Sher
Neal M. Sher is an American lawyer who is the former head of the Office of Special Investigations and former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee . Since 2002, he has been a solo practitioner in New York City....
, but was rejected the Israeli government. When news of this refusal leaked to the Israeli press, a polemic was sparked between Hausner and Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
's executive, but the latter chose not to reconsider its earlier decision. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, the stance may have implied that "the Israelis did not feel they could build a sufficient war crimes case against [Trifa]." In parallel, Charles Kremer stated his dissatisfaction with Israel's decision.
At the time, Trifa's early convictions caused another scandal. In May 1979, upon instructions from Noël Bernard
Noël Bernard
Noel Bernard was a Romanian journalist, known for being the head of the Romanian-language department of Radio Free Europe...
, Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
's Romanian contributor Liviu Floda interviewed Trifa on his Church's activities. Bernard's initiative was allegedly questioned by Floda and his employers alike. News of the interview's broadcast caused virulent reactions inside the United States, and resulted in a hearing by a subcommittee of the United States House Committee on International Relations.
Renunciation of citizenship and Portuguese refuge
In 1980, Trifa gave up his American citizenship and, in 1982, he left the United States in order to avoid deportation due to the ongoing investigation. He had earlier agreed to deportation before an immigration judge in Detroit, explaining that the trial was placing a financial strain on his congregation.Nevertheless, his adversaries considered Trifa's to be an admission of guilt, in respect to both the technical charge and the accusations of war crimes. According to Time, although Trifa's defense team rejected the claims, it did not deny Trifa's fascist and antisemitic convictions and speeches, including the 1941 statements, but stated that its client had no intention of causing a pogrom. They also argued that Valerian Trifa had acted after being forced to choose between the pro-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the pro-Nazi camps, contending that antisemitism was "rampant at the time."
After spending two years searching for a country to give him refuge, he settled in Estoril
Estoril
Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, Lisboa District. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra or...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. In an interview he gave shortly before leaving, Valerian Trifa claimed that he had "happened to get put in a moment of history when some people wanted to make a point. The point was to revive the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
. But all this talk by the Jews about the Holocaust is going to backfire."
In autumn 1984, the authorities declared the archbishop an undesirable, and indicated that he had failed to reveal his fascist sympathies upon requesting and obtaining a temporary visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
. According to Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, Portuguese officials indicated that "it was against Portugal's interests for Archbishop Trifa to live here and he must leave as soon as possible." Initially, they allowed the prelate three months to leave the country's territory. Trifa contested the decision with the Supreme Administrative Court.
Valerian Trifa died at the age of 72, in a Cascais
Cascais
Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...
hospital where he was undergoing emergency treatment for a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
.
Legacy
Beginning in the late 1980s, Ion Mihai PacepaIon Mihai Pacepa
Ion Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc. He is now a United States citizen, a writer, and a columnist....
, a former general in the communist secret police (the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
) who defected to the United States, claimed that Trifa had been the victim of a frameup
Frameup
A frame-up or setup is an American term referring to the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime....
engineered by his former colleagues. Pacepa linked this to an alleged trip by Romanian bishop Bartolomeu Anania
Bartolomeu Anania
Bartolomeu Anania, was a Romanian Orthodox bishop, translator, writer and poet; he was the Metropolitan of Cluj, Alba, Crişana and Maramureş.-Early life:...
to the United States, of which he claimed was a common attempt of the regime and the main Orthodox Church to quell the dissidence of Romanian-American Orthodox believers.
In a 2003 article for Revista 22
Revista 22
Revista 22 is a Romanian weekly magazine, issued by the Group for Social Dialogue and focused mainly on politics and culture....
, Noël Bernard's wife, Ioana Măgură Bernard, noted that her husband was being targeted by the Securitate, and argued that, especially after the Trifa interview, the communist institution attempted to stir up animosity inside Radio Free Europe in order to have Bernard stripped of his position. Based on evidence from her husband's Securitate file, she also described Bernard's mysterious 1981 death as an assassination, arguing that it formed the culmination of various failed attempts to silence him.
Elements of the Trifa case have been the topic of an episode in the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series Forensic Files
Forensic Files
Forensic Files is an American documentary-style series which reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show is broadcast on truTV, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, in association with truTV...
, aired by the United States television station Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
in January 2001. The piece, titled Unholy Vows, discussed the forensic evidence gathered from Trifa's correspondence. In its press release of the time, Court TV stated: "[the] 40 year-old-print is the oldest latent print ever detected by any law enforcement agency." The station also argued that the identification had played a major part in Trifa's decision to surrender his American citizenship.
In 2007, journalists at L'Espresso
L'Espresso
l'Espresso is an Italian newsmagazine. It is one of the two most prominent Italian weeklies, the other being Panorama. Since the latter has been acquired by right-wing tycoon and politician Silvio Berlusconi, l'Espresso enjoys the reputation of being the main politically independent newsmagazine...
cited Trifa among the suspected war criminals who, it claimed, may have been actively aided by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in avoiding investigation. The magazine suggested that the frequency of such cases could help explain why Italy had been resisting the ratification
Ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
needed for opening the International Tracing Service
International Tracing Service
The International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany, is the internationally governed archive whose task it is to document the fate of millions of civilian victims of Nazi Germany. The documents in the ITS archives include original records from concentration camps, details of forced labour,...
archives managed by the International Committee of the Red Cross
International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
and kept in Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State...
.
Further reading
- Gerald J. Bobango, Religion and Politics: Bishop Valerian Trifa and His Times, East European Monographs, Boulder & New York, distributed by Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, 1981. - Traian Lascu, Valerian, 1951-1984, Knello, Detroit, 1984.
- Ion Mihai PacepaIon Mihai PacepaIon Mihai Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc. He is now a United States citizen, a writer, and a columnist....
, Red Horizons: Chronicles of a Communist Spy Chief, Regnery Gateway, Washington, D.C., 1987.