Romania, citadel of faith and civilization, fought in the East for Cross and Justice.

Colonel Ciobanu, Chief of Staff of the Romanian National Army, dressed in the uniform of his country's army, exchanging impressions with one of the Romanian battalion commanders wearing the uniform of the Waffen ϟϟ.

Colonelul Ciobanu şef al Statului Major al Armatei Naționale Române, îmbrăcat în uniforma armatei țării sale, schimbând impresii cu unul dintre comandanții de batalion români, cu uniforma Waffen ϟϟ

The beauty of the legionary life lies precisely in the multitude of dangers.

Frumuseţea vieţii legionare stă tocmai în mulţimea primejdiilor

Ionel Moța! The Brotherhoods of the Cross, whom you first led 13 years ago, now swear to you, now and forever, that they will grow in the cult of your virtues and of the Captain, whom you, by God’s grace, were the first to know and reveal to us and to the entire nation.
Next to his holy relics, we will gather every year, and there, kneeling, we will pray that you may always descend, spirit leader and protector among us. Be among us!

The Legionary movement was not a mere political phenomenon or a group of imitators, as some would suggest. Codreanu's followers embodied a deep Romanian philosophy, striving for a profound societal reform, even at the cost of their lives. Their tragedy and martyrdom are indelible parts of our nation's history. Whether as enemies or allies of the Legion, we cannot afford the luxury of erasing or diminishing their merits, sacrifices, or even their excesses. These were all part of a time marked by chronicles of injustice, bloodshed, suffering in prisons, and the concept of martyrdom—bloody, yet sacred—a concept that shaped the Romanian mentality of the 20th century. Without understanding this, comprehending the history of Romania during this era would be impossible.
In the end, leaving for Spain to join the anti-communist war in defense of the "cross," the two martyrs—Mota and Marin—died in the Legion. If they were led to certain death, it means they knew what they were fighting for. Their funeral was the most grandiose event I have ever witnessed: hundreds of priests, young Legionnaires in green shirts, all in perfect formation, marching to the Gorgani church where their bodies were laid to rest. Thousands of people filled the streets surrounding the church.
What strikes me most is the word "martyr," which I first heard in my youth. In prisons, in mines, and in the harshest of conditions, the Legionaries endured immense suffering, yet they carried themselves with a sense of resignation, almost as if they were true martyrs. They bore their pain with dignity, mystifying it and elevating it with sobriety. It was as if they existed in another world—one deepened by faith and suffering, far from the turmoil of the world around them.
Everyone is quick to convict them for their perceived crimes, but they were far more than victims of history. They were men of conviction and faith, whose sacrifices and suffering resonate in the soul of Romania.

The existence of the individual is interspersed by a multitude of activities, how everyone can find out. But only one activity ensures them the fullness of the spiritual life, that which rises on the line of ascendance individual-nation-God. From that moment the individual leads a full life, for he has discovered the axis of life

Existenta individului e brăzdată de o mulțime de activități, cum poate constata fiecare. Dar o singură activitate îi asigură
plenitudinea vieții spirituale, aceea care se înalță pe linia ascendentă individ-neam-Dumnezeu. Din acel moment individul duce o viață plenară, căci a descoperit axa vieții lui.

The 153rd Grenadier Division of the 3rd Romanian Army training on the Eastern Front, with a Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 anti-tank weapon. In the area of Southern Basarabia, 1944.

Divizia 153 Grenadier a Armatei 3 Române antrenament pe Frontul de Est, cu o armă antitanc Raketenpanzerbüchse 54. În zona Basarabiei de Sud, 1944

Defilarea legionarilor împreună cu naționaliști din Germania, Italia și Spania la București.

Romanian soldier loading a mortar, at an emplacement on the Eastern front, Kuban River, May 1943.

Un soldat român ce încarcă un mortar, la un amplasament de pe frontul de est, râul Kuban, Mai 1943.

In Majadahonda, far away in the heart of Spain, Ionel Moța went to fight and die, to consecrate with his own blood all that he had said and written in 15 years of turmoil, as he stood among us, and at our forefront. Dying in the legionary ideal, Ionel Moța did not die, for he did not die to die; he died to live. And through him, the Legion and our Romanian nation will live for centuries. The sacrifice of Ionel Moța and Vasile Marin shook. It shook both our enemies and the Legionnaires. Some, terrifying them, others, emboldening them. With a tear in his eye from the pain of Ionel’s irreparable loss, yet emboldened by his uplifting gesture, our soul—all Legionnaires—feels, more prepared than ever, ready for sacrifice. To follow him.

In the present map, over 300 establishments can be counted, the result of the work of the Legionary camps: cathedrals, churches, restorations of monasteries, hermitages, homes, shelters for the poor, rest homes made for the needy, roadside crosses, mountain roads, dams and bridges, ensemble arrangements (as in the case of the camp at Carmen Sylva {Eforie Nord today} on the shores of the Black Sea), hospitals for the poor, canteens for orphans, and many other similar initiatives. In total, the number of Legionary labor camps is estimated throughout Romania to exceed 3,500…

Se pot număra în harta de față peste 300 de așezăminte, rod al muncii taberelor legionare: catedrale, biserici, restaurări de mănăstiri, schituri, cămine, case de adăpost pentru cei săraci, case de odihnă făcute pentru cei nevoiași, troițe, drumuri de munte, diguri și poduri, amenajări de ansamblu (cum a fost cazul taberei de la Carmen Sylva {Eforie Nord astăzi} pe malul Mării Negre), spitale pentru săraci, cantine pentru orfani și multe altele asemenea. În total numărul taberelor de muncă legionare este estimat pe tot cuprinsul României la peste 3500…

Only you, the legionaries, are capable of detaching yourselves from bodily goods. Only you, the legionaries, are ready to give your lives for an ideal, for the leader who embodies this ideal. Nowhere else in the world have I encountered such a perfect symbiosis between creed and reality. And I trust the Legion, because no other movement affirms poverty as its ideal of life and the love, as you say, for legionary death. I am amply informed about the Legionary Movement and I attribute this posture to the adoption of original Christianity, uncorrupted by the passage of centuries. I tell you this to explain why I chose you, a foreigner, and not some young Nazi militant. Because we, like the fascists, have lost intimate contact with Christianity. You have not.

With hearts, dreams, and autumns,
We have diligently woven our destinies,
And we have bled under unjust hands, Lord,
We bring them to You, keep them.
And send us in secret, to carry us,
Archangels of lightning and snow,
When we go through persecution and death,
Let us light a star over the land.

Colonel Alexandru, as well of the Major State of the National Romanian Army, supervising Regiment 1’s soldiers training

Colonelul Alexandrescu, de asemenea, din Statul Major al Armatei Naționale Române, supervizează instruirea soldaților din Regimentul nr. 1

Professor Sangiorgiu of the Romanian National Government, visiting a German hospital where wounded soldiers of the Romanian Army were recovering, to encourage them to join the National Army.

Profesorul Sângiorgiu din Guvernul Național Român, vizitând un spital german, unde se recuperau răniți ai Armatei române, pentru a-i încuraja să se unească Armatei Naționale.

We were both Orthodox and Catholics. Beetwen us there was no political or confessional differences, We sought to fit in our actions in military honour and in Christian moral, both towards friends, and towards enemies. You will not find once in the fight an act of which we should be ashamed or dirty moral fight. This was the second character of our struggle: THE CHRISTIAN ONE.

Eram şi ortodocşi, şi catolici. Intre noi nu existau diferențe politice sau confesionale. Am căutat să ne încadrăm acțiunile noastre în onoarea militară şi morala creştină atât față de prieteni, cât şi fată de duşmani. Nu se va găsi nicăieri în lupta noastră o faptă de care să ne fie ruşine sau care să ne murdărească moral lupta. Acesta a fost cel de al doilea caracter al luptei noastre: CEL CREȘTIN.

Horia Sima visiting the Romanians who were undergoing training courses conducted by the Abwehr for agents who had to infiltrate Romania. Interestingly, they are wearing different uniforms (from the Waffen SS, Heer, including the Luftwaffe).

Horia Sima viziteaza Romania, care urmeaza cursuri de instruire desf produse de Abwehr pentru Agen produse care trebuie s infiltreze romn Romnia. Ca un fapt curios, observați că aceștia poart produse uniforme diferite (ale Waffen SS, ale Armatei, inclusiv Luftwaffe).

Horia Sima saluting the soldiers of the National Romanian Army who were appointed to be dropped over Soviet-occupied Romania.

Horia Sima salutând militarii Armatei Naţionale Române care au fost desemnaţi pentru a fi lansati peste România ocupată de sovietici.

We do not, and have never for a single day in our lives, engaged in politics… We are servants of a belief. In its fire we consume ourselves, and, entirely controlled by it, we serve it until our last strength. For us, there is no defeat or disarmament, because the force we wish to be instruments of is eternally invincible.