Constantin Brătescu
Constantin Brătescu was a Romanian major-general during World War II.
In 1941, he served first as Chief Propaganda Section General Staff and then as a Romanian liaison officer to the German Military Mission, meaning that he served as a German military officer during Operation Barbarossa and the Axis Invasion of the Soviet Union. Starting in 1942 Brătescu was a Romanian General Officer and commanded the 1st Cavalry Division throughout the campaign against the Soviets, fighting in such engagements as Operation Barbarossa, Operation Blue, and the Battle of Stalingrad. Following the surrender of Friedrich Paulus' 6th Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, Brătescu became a prisoner of war and was held captive in the Soviet Union from 1943 to 1948.
During a visit to Moscow in April 1946, the composer George Enescu and his wife, Princess Maruca Cantacuzino, asked the Soviet authorities to free Brătescu and a fellow prisoner, General. Brătescu was released in 1948, after five years of imprisonment, and subsequently retired from active service. He died in 1971, at the age of seventy-nine.
