in the middle of Visarion Puiu's mandate as Metropolitan of Transnistria, Jews (men, women, and children) were used as slave labourers, under the supervision of the Gendarmerie, for road works in preparation for the upcoming inauguration of the Balta cathedral. Most of them died of hunger and exhaustion, or were executed." and concludes that "he was not a victim of Communism in the way most recent writings try to portray him. Moreover, he was not a martyr of the Orthodox dignity, and even less so a saint. He had to be tried for his actions during the war. The trial and the sentence, although problematic, were a necessary step in analysing the attitude of the Romanian Orthodox hierarchs involved in the policies of hatred." Moreover, Popa judges that "it is a problematic fact that only Visarion Puiu was tried. Many other high hierarchs were involved in encouraging Ion Antonescu's policies." Notes References Bibliography External links Statement regarding Puiu dated 11 March 2003 in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies by Member of Parliament Pavel Târpescu. 1879 births 1964 deaths People from Pașcani University of Bucharest alumni National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni Romanian Orthodox metropolitan bishops Romanian theologians Eastern Orthodox clergy convicted of crimes Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics Romanian anti-communist clergy Romanian expatriates in the Soviet Union Romanian people convicted of war crimes People convicted by the Romanian People's Tribunals The Holocaust in Transnistria Romanian expatriates in France Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery