Gheorghe Alexianu (born January 1, 1897, Străoane, Putna County; died 1 June 1946, Jilava) was a lawyer, high school teacher and associate professor who served as governor of Transnistria between 1941 and 1944. In 1946, he was accused and convicted of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity; he was sentenced to death by the Bucharest People's Tribunal (sentence reconfirmed in the appeals of 2006 and 2008), and was executed on June 1, 1946 by shooting. Biography Professional and political career until 1940 Gheorghe Alexianu was the eldest son of an Aromanian shepherd from Pindus, Ovanez Alexean, a refugee in Wallachia to escape the forced islamization undertaken by the Turks in the second half of the 19th century. Ovanez arrived with herds of sheep in Moldavia, in the Panciu area, where he settled after a short time. In 1915 Alexianu began his law studies at the University of Bucharest. After Romania entered World War I, he enlisted voluntarily in the Romanian Army in December 1916. In 1918 he left the army and resumed his studies at the University of Bucharest. After graduation he was for a year professor of philosophy and history at a high school in Râmnicu Vâlcea. He then attended doctoral courses at the University of Bucharest and obtained the title of doctor in legal sciences in 1925. From 1927 he held the position of associate professor of public law at the University of Cernăuți, where he worked until 1938. Alexianu began his administrative career with his appointment as a governor (Romanian: "rezident regal", literally meaning "royal resident") of Ținutul Suceava (with the capital at Cernăuți) on August 29, 1938. On December 1, 1938, the decree-law no. 169/1938 for the “citizenship review”, was issued by the government, with the aim of revoking the citizenship of Jewish citizens. Alexianu applied this decree-law abusively, with personal additions. Among other things, he ordered Jewish citizens, deprived of their Romanian citizenship, to register and also "suggested" that they should sell their properties and businesses within 14 days. On January 31, 1939, he was removed from the position of royal resident of Ținutul Suceava due to the inability to solve the social and political problems of Bukovina, and was replaced by Gheorghe Flondor. Alexianu was then appointed as a royal resident of Ținutul Bucegi (with the capital at Bucharest). He held this position until September 1940. Transnistria Governorate On June 19,