Retired Colonel Rus Iosif was born on October 28, 1915 in the commune of Ţaga, Cluj County. Today, the municipality of Gherla hosted a ceremony for his 110th birthday, WWII veteran Colonel (retg.) Iosif Rus, and elevated him to the rank of second lieutenant.
He graduated from the pedagogical academy during the interwar period, and in 1940, he was assigned to the 81st Infantry Regiment Dej. He attended the Sfântul Gheorghe Infantry Reserve Officers School.
During 1942-1945 he was on the front with the 95th Infantry Regiment Turnu Severin, in the Caucasus and the Crimean Peninsula, participating in the battles of Krimskaya and Moldovanskaya, where he was wounded, receiving medical care for eight months. After hospitalization he was sent back to the front, until July 1, 1945, when he came home. Later, he continued his career in education, as a music teacher, for 43 years.
The solemn ceremony took place at the Gherla History Museum Center, and was attended by the area’s political figures, as well as several high-ranking military officials.
War veterans were previously not taxed for their pensions, but this changed last month with PM Ilie Bolojan’s austerity measures.
The last statistics, quantified in April 2025, showed that there are currently around 435 WWII veterans alive in Romania today.
