On June 22, 1941, a little more than a year into the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia, Romania partook in the surprise attack on Soviet territory as an Axis country. Gherman Pântea was mobilized and dispatched to the Fourth Army, where he was legal adviser to General Nicolae Ciupercă. The latter asked him to review a list of 100 Bessarabian "undesirables", singled out for their left-wing opinions and facing summary execution—Ciupercă wanted his secretary to ensure that no "good Romanians" had been included, but Pântea was able to obtain that the order itself be postponed. Among those rescued as a result of his objection were the communist activists Gheorghe Stere (son of Bessarabian unionist Constantin Stere) and Alexandru Mîță.