Romanian and German forces' retaliation in Odessa led to mass civilian killings

On 6 October 1941, Romanian troops occupied Odessa with German air support, but a Soviet-planted mine later detonated in the building housing the Odessa Military Command, killing 16 Romanian officers, 46 sub-officers and soldiers, several civilians and four German naval officers. Romanian officials, influenced by antisemitic sentiment, attributed the blast to local Jewish partisans, although archives show the Soviets had mined the structure.

A secret order mandated the execution of 200 civilians for each Romanian or German officer killed and 100 for each soldier, prompting widespread reprisals. Over the following days, thousands of Jews and alleged communists were hanged, shot or burned in public squares and in four large warehouses where bodies were piled and set alight. Romanian generals reported the terror tactics as a deterrent, while eyewitnesses described the horrific conditions of the victims. The massacre left tens of thousands dead, wounded or missing and remains a stark example of wartime atrocities in occupied Ukraine.