About this person
Ion Antonescu was a Romanian military officer and marshal who led two successive dictatorships as Prime Minister and Conducător during the Second World War.
He served in the Romanian Army as an officer, military attaché in France and Chief of the General Staff. He came to power in 1940, established the National Legionary State and later ruled in alliance with Nazi Germany.
His regime was responsible for the persecution and deaths of up to 400,000 Jews and Roma. He was overthrown by King Michael I in August 1944, convicted of war crimes after the war and executed in 1946.