Description
The memoir of a Romanian artist who used his drawing skill to try and fight the Nazis and his government's ultra-nationalist government, only to thrown into prison, first by Romania's fascist regime and later by its Communists.
Romania had allied itself with Nazi Germany in the Second World War to protect itself from the Soviet Union and to promote its own brand of fascist nationalism.
When George Tomaziu, who had spent the 1930s preparing for a career as an artist, was invited to spy against Romania's fascists for Britain, he agreed because Britain then represented the only possible defence against Nazism.
He went on to monitor German troop movements through Romania towards the Russian front, and observed, on one occasion, the mass-killing of Jews in the small Ukrainian town of Brailov, as well as briefly working as the artistic director of the world-famous Ukraine opera house.
He knew he might be arrested, tortured and killed by Romania’s rightwing regime but thought that if he survived, his contribution to the war effort would be recognised.
It wasn’t. After Romania turned Communist, he was sent back to prison in 1950 and kept him there for 13 years, in inhuman conditions. Following his release, the British ambassador in Bucharest helped him get out of Romania and he eventually settled in Paris, where he wrote this memoir.
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Rights Information
World rights available.
Reviews
Review awaited from historian Dennis Deletant, OBE.
Author Biography
George Tomaziu was the godson of Romania’s most celebrated composer and musician, Georges Enescu, who was married to Princess Cantacuzino and lived in a palace.
Nothing in his early life suggested the toughness needed to withstand abuse. On the contrary, his artistic spirit expressed itself in a voracious bi-sexuality and hunger for pleasure.
At one point during the war, he was artistic director of the Odessa Opera; a year later, he was in Romania’s most notorious prison. He died in 1990.
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Tomazi's book was trnaslated from French by Lady Reid, who was married to the Number 2 at the British Embassy in Romania and befriended Tomaziu in the 1960s.
It was her husband who negotiated to get Tomaziu out of the country in 1969, helping him settle first in London, then in Paris. She went on to translate his book and is available for interview.
EnvelopeBooks
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher EnvelopeBooks
- Publication Date March 2022
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781915023049
- Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
- FormatPaperback
- Primary Price 12.99 GBP
- Pages232
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2022
- Page size8" x 5" (203.2 x 127) mm
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