The attack of the Romanian Legation in Bern - Februarty 1955

The case of Bern: the attack on the Romanian Legation in February 1955


Dumitru Ochiu, Stan Codrescu, Oliviu Beldeanu and Ion Chirila, the four assailants of the Romanian Legatio

On 14 February 1955 in the evening a group of four young Romanians broke into the Romanian Legation in Berne, Switzerland. This is the beginning of the "Case of Bern", symptomatic of the climate of the Cold War era.

1955, in Romania, the strong man is Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, remained a strong Stalinist even after Stalin's death (1953). He came to power in May 1952 when the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party (Communist Party) excluded party leaders accused of "cosmopolitanism" (understand  : claim the mixture of all cultures into one). Gheorghiu-Dej created the Romanian equivalent of Soviet gulags and relied on the Securitate (Romanian secret police) to consolidate his power. In 1956 he approved the Soviet intervention against the Hungarian revolution.

The attack of 14 February 1955 has been prepared and is headed by Oliviu Beldeanu a sculptor of 31 years. It was in his youth member of “Frunza Verde”, youth organization of the Romanian fascist movement “Iron Guard”. He expatriated in 1949 in Yugoslavia then in 1951 in Italy and Germany. The other members of the group are Ion Chirila, Stan Codrescu, Dumitru Tudor Ochiu and Ciochina.


Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej is the strongman of Romania in 1955 - Gheorghiu-Dej with his son and daughter Lica

In the Schlösslistrasse in Bern one of the quietest streets of the Swiss capital, it is ten o'clock in the evening. The four men climb the wrought iron gate of the Romanian Legation, they let them fall in the snow and headed to a “pavillon” where they burst in. It is the home of Aurel Setu officially driver of the embassy and in fact a member of the Securitate. The four began to search for documents proving that the embassy is involved in spying activities. They took hundreds of documents. Aurel Setu is slaughtered, it seems accidentally.

The “chargé d'affaires” of the legation, Erich Stoffel, was in the main building and was awakened by gunfire. A few minutes later he saw arise in his room four men wearing masks but panicked he jumped through the window and reaches s' escape through the gardens. His family remained hostage.

Outside a hundred Swiss police officers surrounded the building, without giving the assault, the Romanian “chargé d'affaires” forbidding them, as a first step, to go into the legation. Projectors are set up, the legation is surrounded by barbed wire. At dawn Stoffel allowed police to enter the legation. The police found Aurel Setu unconscious and bathed in his blood in the snow, evacuated to the hospital, he died. The police do not try to storm the main building or the four men.

One of the attackers, hidden in the window of the legation - Police surrounded the legation

On the night of 15 to 16 February Dumitru Ochiu left the embassy with documents found in the legation and went with the docs to the Swiss police. He claimed his belonging to an anti-communist and presented the Legation attack as an act of protest against the imprisonment of several anti-communist in Romania. According to him, his comrades had automatic weapons and grenades and have given their word to resist until death? Anxious not to compromise the neutrality the Swiss police returned the documents to the legation .... 24 hours later !

Erich Stoffel, accused the police of inexcusable delay, required the arrest and immediate extradition of the four, speaking of "act of banditry unprecedented, led by a gang of Romanian fascists and other criminal elements, armed automatic, axes and knives, looting of the legation" . The Swiss government just let him know that he did not like the tone of the Romanian protest.

Commissioner Kurt Kessai met the three men remained inside the embassy to negotiate. They told him their oath to fight until death. Kessai then had the idea of involving a Catholic priest to untie their oath. In the afternoon of February 16 the three Romanians always hidden went out of the legation with the priest and surrended. They held the legation for 42 hours.

The four after their surrender - A Swiss police officer and his shot in front wheels

16 months later, the four had their trial before the Swiss Federal Court. The sentences were clement:  Oliviu Beldeanu was sentenced to four years, Stan Codrescu (who had fired at Aurel Setu) to three and a half years, three Ion Chirila and a half years and Dumitru Ochiu to one year and four months.

After his release in 1957, Oliviu Bedeanu was kidnapped in West Berlin by agents of the Securitate. Taken in Bucharest he was the subject of a summary trial and was executed on 18 February 1960.