25 - The Romanian-American Association

Summary

A few days after the formation of the new government, a new organization was formed, the Romanian Association for Closer Ties of Friendship with the Soviet Union, or, in its Romanian acronym, ARLUS. It was formed at the initiative of the Communist Party, and its chairman was Professor Constantin Parhon, a new member of the party. During Antonescu's governance he had been chairman of the board for the German drug giant Merck. The Sibiu branch of ARLUS was set up at the initiative of Professor Petrovici, who, as a new member of the Communist Party, invited to the opening meeting all the heads of the government parties, but only a small portion of the local professors, in order to secure his election as president. As rector and longtime member of the National Peasants’ Party, Professor Borza was appointed member of the governing committee, like all the other heads of the political organizations. The Association leadership remained firmly in Communist hands. Professors Lupaş, Dragomir, Candea, Blaga, D. D. Roşca, and I were not invited to join.

A few days after ARLUS was formed, the Friends of America Association reopened in Bucharest with Professor D. Gusti as president. The vice presidents were C. Parhon, Tr. Săvulescu, Max Auşnit, and—to my surprise—me. After a few days, Professor Borza—who honored me with the affection of an older colleague— called me to the rectorate and told me that in his modest opinion—as well as that of Ionel Pop, the new minister of Transylvania—it would be useful if we set up Romanian-American associations in Transylvania, with offices in Sibiu, Braşov, Arad, and Timişoara, in order to sustain our efforts for the complete return of territories ceded through the Vienna Award.

“Great minds think alike, rector,” I said, freshly arrived from Bucharest. The previous day I had visited Minister Ionel Pop together with engineer Alex Popp, the general manager of Reşita Company, who was also Transylvanian, and offered our services to speak on behalf of Transylvanian rights at the British and American missions. To this end we were ready to use our connections in those countries, where we had studied, Popp in Britain, I in the United States. Popp added to that the material support of the Reşita Company.