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Emil Rebreanu

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Emil Rebreanu
Rebreanu wearing hisMedal for Bravery
Born(1891-12-17)December 17, 1891
Major,Austria-Hungary(nowMaieru,Romania)
DiedMay 14, 1917(1917-05-14)(aged 25)
BetweenGhimeș-FăgetandPalanca
AllegianceAustria-Hungary
BranchArtillery
Years of service1914–1917
RankSecond Lieutenant
Battles / warsRussian Front(March 1915–December 1915)
Italian Front(December 1915–May 1916)
Romanian Front(August 1916–May 1917)[1]
AwardsMedal for Bravery

Emil Rebreanu(December 17, 1891 – May 14, 1917) was anAustro-HungarianRomanianmilitary officer executed duringWorld War I.The protagonist inForest of the Hanged,a 1922 novel by his brotherLiviu Rebreanu,is influenced by his experience.

Biography

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Rebreanu was born into aGreek-Catholicfamily in Major,Beszterce-Naszód County,nowMaieru,Bistrița-Năsăud County,[2][3]the fifth of fourteen children. He graduated from high school in 1913 and entered the Law faculty ofFranz Joseph UniversityinCluj(Kolozsvár), but was forced to interrupt his studies upon the war's outbreak.[4]

Within a year of joining combat, he was made asecond lieutenantin theAustro-Hungarian Army.He foughtin RussiaandGalicia,sustaining multiple injuries. Rebreanu also distinguished himself on theItalian Frontand was given theGold Medal for Bravery,the highest award granted by the Austrian command to a Romanian.[4][5]However, once he arrived on theRomanian Front,Rebreanu decided that rather than fight against his fellow Romanians, he would join them.Constantin Kirițescuwrote: "Approaching Romanian soil, Rebreanu heard the secret call of his brothers' souls, whispering from beyond the trenches. Between his unnatural soldierly duty and his holy duty as a Romanian, Rebreanu heeded the latter."[5]

Thus, on the night of May 10–11, 1917,[5]having escaped from the infirmary where he was sequestered,[4]he tried to cross the front to the Romanian side, bringing with him the plans for dividing and positioning Austro-Hungarian troops in the area. He was found and arrested by a patrol of imperial officers. Tried by a military court of the 16thHonvédbrigade, on May 12–13, on a charge ofdesertionandespionage,he was stripped of his rank and sentenced to death. As an added humiliation, the method was specified ashanging.According to eyewitnesses, before being executed at 10 p.m. on May 14, he pushed aside the executioner and before the multitude of soldiers, many of whom were Romanians brought there as a warning, shouted "Long liveGreater Romania!"[5]

Legacy

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Forest of the Hanged,a novel by his brotherLiviu Rebreanu,is dedicated: "To the memory of my brother Emil, executed by the Austro-Hungarians, on the Romanian Front, in 1917."[5]Liviu only learned of the execution in 1919, but quickly made several visits to the area, ultimately publishing the book in 1922. When he found out about the hanging, he had already been thinking of a novel drawing upon Emil's letters from the front describing the atmosphere there. Subsequently, he incorporated what Emil had undergone into the book.[4]Nevertheless, he made important changes, describing his brother as an "unscrupulous nationalist" whose true character would have inspired "at most a patriotic poem".[4][6]Among the individuals whom he fictionalized were successive love interests Elena Haliță ( "Marta Domșa" ) and Ilona Lászlo ( "Ilona Vidor", daughter ofFăget's mayor in real life, but of a gravedigger in the book), as well as General Karg, who issued the death sentence.[7]In October 1921, he was present at his brother's exhumation and reburial on the soil of the formerRomanian Old Kingdom,[8]which the latter had requested prior to being hanged.[9]

A street inBistrițabears Emil's name since 1995,[10]one inNăsăudsince 1996,[11]and there is one inOneștias well.[12]In 2012, a monument was unveiled in his memory at the border betweenGhimeș-FăgetandPalancainBacău County,around the place where the hanging is believed to have occurred.[13]Four meters high and made of stone and bronze, one side depicts him in effigy, while the other showsSaint George.[14]

  • The Romanian Front in 1916-1917. Rebreanu was assigned to the Ghimeș Pass area and tried going from west to east.
    The Romanian Front in 1916-1917. Rebreanu was assigned to theGhimeș Passarea and tried going from west to east.
  • The former border between Romania and Hungary in Ghimeș-Făget, not far from where Rebreanu was caught.
    The former border between Romania and Hungary inGhimeș-Făget,not far from where Rebreanu was caught.

Notes

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  1. ^Bianca Biliboc; Ionuț Lupaș (2014)."Emil Rebreanu – o graniță între datorie și conștiință[Emil Rebreanu – on the borderline between duty and conscience] "(PDF).Columna(in Romanian). Comitetul Român de Istoria și Filosofia Științei și Tehnicii.Retrieved26 December2018.
  2. ^Niculae Gheran,Tînărul Rebreanu,p. 27. Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1986
  3. ^Rebreanu, p. 529
  4. ^abcde(in Romanian)Bianca Sara,"Cum și-a transformat Liviu Rebreanu execuția fratelui său de pe front într-un roman tradus în opt limbi",Adevărul,November 1, 2013; Retrieved December 13, 2013
  5. ^abcdeRevista de istorie militară,3/1996, p. 14.Ministry of National Defense,1996
  6. ^(in Romanian)Zigu Ornea,"Integrala Rebreanu spre final"Archived2015-09-24 at theWayback Machine,România Literară,20/2001
  7. ^Rebreanu, p.550-51
  8. ^Rebreanu, p.694
  9. ^Florian T. Argeșanu, Constantin Ucrain,Tripticul vitejiei românești: 1877–1878, 1916–1918, 1944–1945,p. 80. Editura Sport-Turism, Bucharest, 1977
  10. ^(in Romanian)Nomenclatorul străzilor din Municipiul BistrițaArchived2015-04-04 at theWayback Machineat the Bistrița City Hall site
  11. ^(in Romanian)Nomenclatorul stradal al Orașului NăsăudArchived2015-07-07 at theWayback Machineat the Năsăud Town Hall site
  12. ^(in Romanian)Analiza situației în anul 2011Archived2013-12-17 at theWayback Machineat the Onești Town Hall site
  13. ^Ciofu, Constantin (November 11, 2012)."Monument închinat eroului Emil Rebreanu, la Palanca".Ziarul Lumina(in Romanian).RetrievedJanuary 17,2023.
  14. ^(in Romanian)Monumentul Emil Rebreanuat the Palanca Town Hall siteArchived2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine

References

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  • Liviu Rebreanu, edited by Niculae Gheran and Valeria Dumitrescu,Pădurea spînzuraților.Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1972
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