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Anti-Soviet resistance

The western democratic world supported the anti-Soviet resistance movements in Eastern and Central Europe, but not to the extent the occupied nations had expected. Sadly, partisan movements did not receive as much support, be it food, weapons, ammunition or combat training from the Western countries as did the Yugoslav partisans during World War II and the Soviets themselves, during their war against Nazi Germany. Documents show that western countries rarely had a coherent policy to block the Soviet Union's expansion into Europe, and often chose just to wait and see how things unfolded. Resistance movements therefore had the purpose of preventing the Soviet Union from reaching its goal of destabilising democracy in Europe following the Second World War. One example of such a movement were the paratroopers trained in France and supported by the US who were often sent in unclear missions in their homelands.

The US Government was repeatedly accused of having used groups of fascist paratroopers to act against pro-Communist regimes. But paratroopers were not all fascists, in Romania's case they were legionnaires. The paratrooper platoon was led by captain Sabin Mare, and also included officer Gavrila Pop and flight assistant Ilie Rada. All three were part of a larger group that had fought for the Romanian Royal Army, and fled to France once the communist regime settled in. Their wish was to work together with western allies toward removing soviet influence from Romania. In July of 1953, Sabin Mare's platoon received the mission to parachute into Romania and train men in radio telegraphy, in order to facilitate an exchange of intelligence. The platoon were also given the task to make contact with the armed anti-Communist forces in Fagaras mountains. The troops were aided by Neagu Djuvara, the link between the paratroopers and the American forces.

In an interview given in 1999 to Radio Romania's Centre for Oral History, Neagu Djuvara spoke of the dangers behind the mission given to the three paratroopers, and of his talk with Ilie Rada, the only member of the group who made it back to the west. "They had little equipment, and had to use what they had. It was amazing how Ilie Rada managed to get away, by running into a forest. It was months before the Americans managed to get him out of Yugoslavia safely. The secret services there probably wanted to get as much intelligence from him as possible, before eventually letting him go back to Paris. At that time, the French and the Americans knew that he couldn't be sent back on another mission, but wanted to know if what he was saying was true. They made me take him to a village a few dozen kilometers from Paris, where we stayed for weeks. With every day passing by we became closer friends, ate together, and he told me his stories. When I was done with my interrogation, I told the Allied services that I was 100 % sure that everything the man had to say was true."

Ilie Rada himself gave an interview 1999, explaining how their mission was sabotaged on August 13th of 1953, a month after they had dropped down into Romania. Rada spoke of that day: "That morning, Gavrila Pop was supposed to go to Apa, near Baia Mare, to retrieve some supplies. He went, but we haven't seen him since. The police found us the evening of that same day. I was just about to receive a radio telegram. I was with Mare and a student we had recruited when the police came knocking at our door. We knew it was the police. Mare and myself fled immediately. We had to pass through a hedge. I tripped and fell, but Mare kept on running. I haven't seen him since. The time was about 11 p.m. or midnight."

Rada got away and fled to Yugoslavia. The border was zig-zag shaped, and upon entering Yugoslavia and going straight, he found himself stepping onto Romanian soil yet again. He waited for dawn to cross the border once more, and when he found a pack of Yugoslavian cigarettes on the ground, we was sure he had escaped. Here is Ilie Rada. "I didn't go to the first 'rendez-vous', because it was too close to my village and I figured those guys in their jeeps would catch up to me. So I headed for the second rendez-vous. I got there after two days, as it was far away and I had no means of transportation. It took me about 15 days to reach the Yugoslavian border from Baia Mare on foot. So I had to cross the border with Yugoslavia once again. They said they captured me, but the fact is I was there turning myself in, as instructed by the Americans. In Yugoslavia, they locked me up in a single cell for 6 months. After that, they let me go, they took me to the Italian border and let me pass. Someone came looking for me in Trieste, where I ran into some American friends. Someone from France came and took me back to Paris."

Captain Mare made it to the first rendezvous. Disheartened, he killed himself. Gavrila Pop didn't make it to any of the two rendezvous. The mission of Sabin Mare's platoon failed.