Evening star., 1940-10-25
Carols Determined
Foe, 5ima, Heads
Iron Guardists
Poetic Looking Man
Escaped Sayings to
Become Vice Premier
BY DANIEL DE LUCE,


BUCHAREST.-In his green shirt
and Sam Browne belt, gr -at shock
of black hair carelessly brushed
back from his high forehead, Horia
Sima looks more like a poet than
the r'uehrer of Rumania's once OUT
lawed Iron Guard
AS he leads his civilian troops IL
march past the royal palace on
Calea Victoriei, the muscles of his
neck are rigid and he walks with
the nervous solemnity of an altar
boy
The spectators cheer. Slma's arm
whips out to salute young King
Mlhai and Queen Mother Helene.
His face seems never to relax from
an expression of relentless deter
mination.
Horia Sima today is Vice Premier
of Rumania because he is the
elected captain of the Iron Guard.
He is captain because he was lucky
enough TO survive when at least
$500 elite Guardlsts were meeting
execution.
Escaped to Germany.
In his feud with the Iron Guard,
ex-King Carol had most OF the iden-
tilted leaders arrested and slain dur
ing 1888 and 1899. Only those who
escaped across the border were sure
OF their lives; Sima, a 36-year- old
university professor, went TO Ger
many.
By the time Slma returned Sc
cretly to Rumania this year, Guard
lists who might have had stronger
claims to the captalncy were dead
and buried.
Now the Iron Guard is no longer
the official enemy of the state, but
the state itself, so proclaimed by
Gen. Ion Antonescu, who engineered
Carols abdication. Gen Antonescu
continues TO head the formal gov
ernment; but If he has an heir
apparent, it is Slma.
At best, the Iron Guard. IN It's
career outside the law, is authorl-
tatlvely estimated to have had less
than $4,000 active members. Many
/ more RumanlanS. however, were
sympathiZers but prudence dictated
their remaining anonymous. The
most votes an Iron Guard party
ever polled IN a national election
came to 476, ,378-or 1858 per cent
of the total-in 1887
Now Must Convert Masses.
rTl,ie ,,,;,o,;+,, ,,,o,o,,o,,. l,o- ha
come the all-encompasslng political
machine of the new state. Horla
| Slma. with fiery eloquence and grim
singleness OF purpose. must try to
convert the Rumanlan masses.
His only experience in public
Office before he became Vice Premier
was brief period last July as Mn
I lister of Cults and Arts Carol had
( made a gesture of appeaslng the
Guard with few Jobs. Slma
quickly resigned, having been op-
posed by other ministers. he said.
III a plan 10 make the Ruman1an
Orthodox church completely lnde-
pendent of the state.
Sima frequently eulogizes Cor
neliu Codreanu. founder and No.
martyr" Of the Guard Two years
| ago. Codreanu and l3 lieutenants
were garroted by eendarmes; the
! bodies we're later riddled with bull
/ lets and a statement was issued
that the men were shot While trying
to escape.
Rumania for the Rumanlans.
only the Ruman!ans. and all the
Rumanians." was Codreanus IA
vorlte slogan Sima claims this will
/ be partly fulfilled by exclusion of
Jews from many economic pursuits
! ard the custer OF British interests
from the oil fields. The Guard COR
daily co-operates, however IN the
expansion OF German investments
/ here.
Clean government was another
Codreanu doctrine. Sima promises
to effect a big-scale cleanup Of COR