Died 17 October 1948 | ||
Modest Isopescu (November 30, 1895 – October 17, 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born soldier, administrator and convicted war criminal.
Born in Frătăuții Vechi, in Austrian-ruled Bukovina, he entered the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1916 with the rank of reserve second lieutenant, and fought in World War I. Made a captain in the Romanian Land Forces in 1923, he was advanced to major in 1934 and lieutenant colonel in 1939. Romania entered World War II in June 1941 at the onset of Operation Barbarossa, under the Ion Antonescu regime. At that point, Isopescu was commander of a battalion in the gendarmerie, part of the 4th Army. He filled this position until October, when he was named prefect of Golta County in Transnistria Governorate. He remained as such until March 1944; meanwhile, at the end of 1942, he was transferred to the reserves. Under Isopescu's reign, the Golta district became a veritable "kingdom of death" for the Jews deported there. In January 1945, several months after Antonescu was deposed, the Romanian government ordered the arrest of 65 persons, including Isopescu, for the "national disaster". Charged with war crimes, he was sentenced to death by one of the Romanian People's Tribunals in late May. On June 1, this was commuted to hard labor for life. He died at Aiud prison in 1948.