After the January 1941 battle between the Guard and Antonescu, which was won by the latter, Cantacuzino endured an Antonescu supporter. By June, Antonescu had agreed to participate in Operation Barbarossa: as an ally of the Nazi Germany, Romania recaptured the lost province of Bessarabia. In an article for the official propaganda paper, "Universul", Cantacuzino celebrated "the holy hour" as the definitive end of "Jewish democracy", and envisaged a redemption of Europe under fascist rule. The Antonescu regime soon enforced racial antisemitism across the land. According to Alexandra Petrescu, the legislation introduced at the time was remarkably similar with the Cantacuzino project of 1937.