Gheorghe Rășcănescu

Gheorghe Răscănescu (30 January 1900 – 3 June 1967) was a Romanian officer during World War II.

He was born in Crăcăoani, Neamț County. After completing elementary school in his native village, he attended from 1912 to 1918 the Petru Rareș High School in Piatra Neamț. In 1920 he enrolled in the Military School for Infantry Officers in Sibiu, graduating in 1922 with the rank of second lieutenant. In 1926 he was promoted to lieutenant, and in 1935 to captain. In 1940 he received the command of the 1st Battalion of the 15th Dorobanți Regiment, being promoted to the rank of major. He then fought with the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army, under the command of General Mihail Lascăr. After the Romanian front was broken in November 1942 at the Battle of Stalingrad, Răscănescu and his battalion managed to escape encirclement, being the only formation of Lascăr's division to do so. Covering a distance of in three nights and one day, the battalion succeeded in getting to the Chir River with all its soldiers and equipment, and prevented the Soviet 8th Cavalry Division from capturing the vital German airfield at Oblivskaya from November 26 to December 3.

In July 1958 he was arrested by the Communist authorities, and he was sentenced in February 1959 to 10 years of forced labor for "trying to overthrow the political order." Incarcerated at Gherla Prison, he was released in November 1960.

Awards Order of the Crown of Romania, Knight rank (8 June 1940) Order of the Crown of Romania, Officer rank (5 August 1941)

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (4 December 1942) (the lowest in rank foreign recipient of this decoration) Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd Class (31 March 1943), Romania's highest military decoration