RUMANIA: Death of a Plowman

"I am a very lucky man," said Rumania's burly, egotistical Petru Groza, "a sort of modern Midas." Born wealthy, he owned huge estates, was a director of many companies, served as a minister in the archconservative Cabinets after World War I, was a deputy in the Synod of the Rumanian Orthodox Church. In 1927 came the great change; Millionaire Groza abruptly abandoned what he called the "Sodom and Gomorrah" of Rumanian politics, retired to his Transylvanian estates, led a lusty Rabelaisian life and, in his words, "learned to think dialectically." Translation: Groza, an opportunist of agility, saw Russia as...