court documents mention the suffering of Jewish victims in Transnistria. Nonetheless, argues Popa, the prosecution was aware of the crimes committed during Puiu's tenure and seemed to imply that the Metropolitan's 1942 report was incriminating. The ambiguous wording of the Tribunal's sentence is, according to Popa, a source of confusion as to the exact reasons for which Puiu was convicted to death. The final paragraph in the original court document reads: "[c]onsidering that by the deeds mentioned above he committed the crime of bringing about the country's disaster, through committing the war crime outlined by Article No. 2, Letter J and punished by Article No. 3, Paragraph 11, from Law 312/1945; For these motives the People’s Tribunal, in the name of the Law decides: It condemns the defendant, Romanian, adult, today disappeared, for the [war] (i. e., the word war is deleted in the original) crime of bringing about the country's disaster and by committing the war crime, consisting in the fact that he left the national territory, he put himself in the service of Hitlerism attacking the country through writing, through speech, as outlined by the articles mentioned above, we condemn him to death." On 30 January 1947, Puiu sent a memoir to the Prime-president of the Romanian Court of Cassation addressing the charges for which he had been convicted. He claimed that he had been utterly unaware of any "actions of terror" committed in Transnistria during his tenure and furthermore stated that had he heard rumors of such actions, he would have informed the king. Puiu went on to comment on his 1942 report arguing that as a leading clergyman, he only focused on matters of the soul and peaceful activities, as opposed to other authorities. The latter, he argued, could carry-out police-style actions or even surgical actions against rebellious elements when required. Finally, Puiu outright denied any connection to the Iron Guard government in exile, despite all the compelling evidence, and requested an annulment of his sentence which would have allowed him to return to Romania. Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe By May 1948, Puiu had reached Switzerland and was trying to obtain identification allowing him to cross into France. The initially issued a voyage document; then, becoming aware of the clergyman's problematic past, withdrew it before conceding to grant him some form of temporary ID that allowed him to leave Switzerland. Puiu