Task Force For International Cooperation On Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research

Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Romania

After years of oscillation, indecision and controversial statements, in 2003 the Romanian authorities set up the Elie Wiesel International Commission for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. Their final report on the sensitive matter of Romania's wartime history and recommendations for the future were all endorsed by the government in November 2004. As a result, Romania became a full member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research in December 2004, at the second annual plenary meeting held under the Italian chairmanship in Trieste.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2012:

The "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania  will organize for the annual commemoration of the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on 27 January 2012, the UN-mandated International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust :

24 January 2012
Conference at the French Cultural Institute the "L'Holocauste en Roumanie: entre oubli et négation" („Holocaustul în România intre uitare şi negare")

26 January 2012
At the Casa Corpului Didactic Bacau  "Bacau a page of recent history. Interrupted destinies. "(Bacău o pagină de istorie recentă. Destine întrerupte". and meeting with survivors of the pogrom in Iasi and Bucharest;

27 January 2012
Exhibition at Center for Culture "George Apostu" (Centrul de Cultura "George Apostu") the "Holocaustul. Destine intrerupte"

*Update* Inauguration of the Bucharest Holocaust Memorial, October 8, 2009. The Romanian Holocaust Memorial, designed by Peter Jacobi, was inaugurated in Bucharest on October 8, 2009, one day in advance of the national Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Read more.

Recognising the particular importance of combating Antisemitism in all its forms, Romania has expressed its readiness to play a major regional role in raising awareness on its revival in Europe. As such, Romania took an active part in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Conferences on Combating Antisemitism organised in Vienna (2003), Berlin (2004) and Cordoba (2005), supporting the inclusion of non-discrimination and promotion of mutual respect and understanding as priorities on the OSCE agenda.
In 2007, Romania hosted a follow-up to the Cordoba conference, with a wider agenda, on Combating Discrimination and Promoting Mutual Respect and Understanding (Bucharest, June 7th-8th).
Further proving its commitment to this important matter, on 17th-18th September 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a regional conference on Combating Antisemitism. Set up in cooperation with the National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania and the National Defense College, this Bucharest-based event addressed some of the main issues related to the role that both governmental and non-governmental bodies should play in combating Antisemitism.
Delegations from 25 countries and representatives of international Jewish and cultural institutions participated. Participants included: OSCE, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, American Jewish Committee, B'nai B'rith International, World Jewish Congress and the European Jewish Community Centre.

Education

Holocaust education was first introduced in Romania in 1998, as a mandatory subject within the wider frame of courses on World War Two. The textbooks published between 1998 and 2003 included accurate information on European Jewish History and the Holocaust and very scarce and mostly misleading data on Romania. As of 2004, the syllabus and textbooks have mostly been revised in keeping with the recommendations of the Wiesel Commission's Final Report.

Teacher training sessions

Teacher training sessions in Holocaust education have been provided to teachers by the Babes Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca as of 2001, the University of Bucharest (in cooperation with IDEE Association and the Association for Civic Education and Dialogue) as of 2002, the Teachers' Association of Bacau as of 2004 and the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania as of 2008, most of them with the logistic support of Yad Vashem and other international organisations.

Official policies

As of 2005, the Ministry of Education and Research, in cooperation with the non-governmental sector and international organisations, organised and sponsored various Holocaust-related events, and devised a National Programme for teacher training in Holocaust education. It currently organises group visits to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, as well as introductory sessions for participants and supports the training carried out by the Universities of Cluj and Bucharest.

Teaching materials

Besides the international Holocaust-related teaching materials translated into Romanian, the Ministry of Education and Research has also endorsed didactic materials such as: the books and film produced by the Romanian Jewish Holocaust Survivors' Association, the documentary and teacher guides of the Association for Civic Education and Dialogue, the website created by IDEE Association, the materials published by the Universities of Bucharest and Cluj and publications provided by Roma organisations.

Remembrance

As of October 2004, Romania has a national Holocaust Remembrance Day on October 9th - the date when the first Jews were deported to Transnistria from Northern Romania by the Romanian authorities. This is marked every year by extraordinary parliamentary sessions with Presidential and Ministerial addresses, round tables, conferences, exhibitions, encounters with survivors, open lessons, national contests organised by schools, documentaries on radio and TV channels and articles published by the media.

Events & sites

Representatives of the central and local authorities attend commemorative events organised by the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities in Bucharest and the local Jewish communities in various localities throughout the country. They lay wreaths at mass graves in Jewish cemeteries or at the synagogues, where there are monuments in memory of the Jews deported to death camps.

The inauguration of the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest, October 8, 2009

The Romanian Holocaust Memorial was inaugurated in Bucharest on October 8, 2009, one day in advance of the national Holocaust Remembrance Day (October 9, marking the first deportations of the Romanian Jews by the Romanian authorities), because of the Jewish holidays. The monument, designed by Peter Jacobi, a German artist of Romanian origin who won the international contest organized by the Romanian authorities in 2006, following the recommendation of the "Elie Wiesel" International Commission for the Holocaust in Romania, consists of five pieces: an Epitaph, a Star of David, a Via Dolorosa, a Gypsy Wheel and a Column. The inauguration ceremony was attended by numerous ministers, politicians, public figures, etc., and included speeches by the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, Chief Rabbi Menachem Hacohen, Bucharest Rabbi Sorin Rosen, and two Holocaust survivors from Transnistria: Liviu Beris, representing the Association of Romanian Jews, Victims of the Holocaust, and Dumitru Tranca, representing the Roma people deported during World War II. Photos by Anca Ciuciu 2009.

Inauguration of the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest, 8/10/09

Click on one of the images to view the gallery (4 pictures).

Survivors

An important role in Holocaust remembrance is played by the Romanian Jewish Holocaust Survivors' Association, whose members are among the most active participants in many related activities. The association co-produced a documentary film, "The Forgotten Holocaust", which, together with other educational materials, is now used in schools. The survivors' testimonials have been recorded under various national and international projects.

Museums

Holocaust remembrance is also ensured by two specialised museums: the Holocaust Museum in Bucharest (established by the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities in the "Great Synagogue") and the Northern Transylvania Holocaust Memorial Museum in Simleu Silvaniei (established under a private initiative). Holocaust- related temporary exhibitions organised by the Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities have also been exhibited by the National History Museum (2004) and the Ministry of Culture (2005).
In 2006, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs organised a national contest for building a Holocaust Memorial dedicated to the victims of Holocaust in Romania. The General Council of Bucharest has recently approved the urban plan in order to begin the construction works.

Research

Academic research on the Holocaust in Romania is carried out at the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, the Moshe Carmilly Weinberger Institute of Hebrew and Jewish Studies of the Babes Bolyai University, the Goldstein Goren Center for Hebrew Studies of Bucharest University, the Alexander Safran Center for Jewish Studies of Iasi University, and occasionally at the National School of Political and Administrative Studies and the National Defense College.

In keeping with the recommendations of the Wiesel Commission, in 2004 the Romanian authorities set up the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, whose main activities consist of (a) identifying, archiving, researching and publishing documents related to the Holocaust of Romanian Jews, (b) elaborating on and publishing in-depth studies and surveys on the topic, (c) implementing Holocaust-related educational programs and (d) promoting representative works on Holocaust history.

Research topics

Current research topics include: forced labour in World War Two Romania, the history of Romanian literary Antisemitism, the Gulag-Holocaust competitive martyrology in Romania, Antisemitic manifestations and Holocaust denial in Romanian mass-media. The Institute also organises monthly seminars, as well as an international annual conference on Holocaust-related topics and has recently launched a joint project with Yad Vashem for the registration of the Holocaust victims' names.

Publications

Important books on Holocaust-related research have been published, such as:

• "The Final Report of the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania";
• "Radu Ioanid", Evreii sub regimul Antonescu;
• "Holocaust Memory and Antisemitism in Central and Eastern Europe. Comparative Issues" (Conference organised by the Elie Wiesel Institute and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung);
• Michael Shafir, "Între negare si trivializare prin comparatie: negarea Holocaustului în tarile postcomuniste din Europa Centrala si de Est. 2".