Gheorghe Avramescu

Gheorghe Avramescu (26 January 1884 – 3 March 1945) was a Romanian Lieutenant General during World War II. In 1945, he died in Slovakia during a German air attack, while under the arrest of the NKVD.

Early life Avramescu was born Botoșani on 26 January 1884, the son of farmers Vasile and Aglaia Avramescu. He attended the A. T. Laurian High School between 1898 and 1906.

For his service during the Crimean campaign, Avramescu was promoted on 18 July 1942 to lieutenant general (general de corp de armată), and was awarded the Order of the Crown, Grand Officer Class (29 July 1942), the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd Class (1 September 1942), and the German Cross, in Gold (25 October 1942).

After the crushing defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad, in which he didn't participate, the Romanian Army was driven back to its own country during 1943 and the first half of 1944. In August 1944, on the eve of the Soviet Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, he took de facto command of the 4th Army, since general Ioan Mihail Racoviță was "away on leave" (preparing King Michael's Coup). Avramescu could not prevent the disastrous defeat, because of the limited number of armored and motorized units at his disposal. In the morning of 23 August, he and General Petre Dumitrescu were dismissed by Marshal Ion Antonescu and replaced by Ilie Șteflea.

After Antonescu was arrested later that day during the Royal Coup, Avramescu was recalled to command the 4th Army on the side of the Soviets against the Germans and the Hungarians. He fought many battles with his 4th Army, including the Battle of Turda and the Battle of Debrecen, and was in command at the Battle of Carei, the last engagement of the war within the present borders of Romania.

Avramescu complained repeatedly to the Soviets about the lack of supplies and impossible tasks for his Army. After several soldiers under his command, known for their support for the fascist Iron Guard, defected to the Nazis, the Romanian High Command, suspecting Avramescu might secretly harbour pro-German views, decided to relieve him of command on 11 January 1945, and put him on reserve. Nevertheless, he was promoted to general on 9 February and recalled to duty at the request of the Soviet Marshal Rodion Malinovsky. After one hour, the Romanian delegation was told that Avramescu and the 40th Army commander, General Filipp Zhmachenko, left for the command post of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, as they were expected there by Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, leading later commentators to assert General Avramescu was arrested by the NKVD. According to the official report issued on 23 March 1945 by NKVD head Lavrentiy Beria, Avramescu was hit by a bullet through the car's windshield.

Also on 3 March 1945, Adela, Avramescu's wife and Felicia Avramescu-Sturdza, his daughter, were arrested and sent to Siberia. His daughter committed suicide; according to Soviet sources, this happened on 6 March 1945.