Since its emergence from the dark clouds of totalitarianism, Romania has started a long and painful process of memory recovery as we assume responsibilities according to moral and political values that reflect our new status as a democratic country and a full member of the Euro-Atlantic community.
In deciding to establish “The Holocaust Day”, we wanted to pay a pious homage to all the people who suffered because of the discriminatory, anti-Semitic and racist policies promoted by the Romanian state during a troubled moment of our national history. This dark chapter of our recent past, when the Jews of Romania became victims of the Holocaust tragedy, must not be either forgotten or minimized. By honoring the dead and the deported, the ones who were forced to leave the country, the ones who were deprived of their possessions, rights and liberties that had been guaranteed to them by the Constitution and treated like inferior beings, we are taking a conscience exam as we attempt to understand the causes and consequences of faulting our people’s values and traditions, and the obligations we have assumed after the Great Union in 1918.
Such critical evaluation of the past is always necessary in order not to forget the past; we must use the past as one of the necessary reference points used to construct our nation’s future. This is one more reason for which the remembrance of the past is appropriate, when we talk about tragic events upon which a long, unmotivated silence was placed.
Ladies and gentlemen, the beginning of the Second World War found Romania unprepared to face the multiple challenges it brought. Under the shield of an almost immediately declared neutrality, Romania’s leaders at that time hoped to be able to avoid the country’s implication in a conflict which was not theirs and from which there would be nothing to win and much to lose. The events that unfolded brought Romania into the fire of war sooner than expected. In June 1940, the USSR, in agreement with Germany, on the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, presented Romania with an Ultimatum, by which, under the threat of force, compelled it to give up Basserabia and the North of Bucovina. Then, on August 30th 1940, by the Vienna Dictate, Germany and Italy forced Romania to give up Northern Transylvania to Hungary.
Against this backdrop of profound national tragedy, a radical political regime change occurred in Romania as a consequence of a coup d’etat. General Ion Antonescu came in power, and he, during a first stage (from September 1940 until January 1941), relied on the political force of the Legionary Movement – an extremist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, anti-democratic and pro-Nazi party. In November 1940, Romania joined the Axis, rallying to the group of states dominated by the Hitlerist Germany. Anti-Semitism and the crusade against Bolshevism gradually became the main themes of the official propaganda, which was also employed to manipulate public opinion. Germany’s involvement in the war against the USSR, in June 1941 (with which Ion Antonescu associated from the beginning, on the grounds of the necessity of recovering the territories taken away by the Soviet Union in the year before) strengthened this movement which followed the political goals and the ideological orientation of Hitlerist Germany. Under the pressure of the pro-fascist oriented organizations in the country, as well as of Hitlerist Germany and of Fascist Italy, it came to the promoting, starting even from the time of the Goga-Cuza government (December 1937- February 1938), of anti-Semitism as a state policy, and, on August 8th 1940, under the royal dictatorship regime of King Charles II, began a systematic action of excluding Jews from the Romanian social life.
After the installation of the Legionary- Antonescu dictatorship, in September
1940, the anti-Semitic policy became extremely rough: a legislation was adopted
by which Jews were excluded from schools and universities, from law bars and
theatres, from the army and the liberal professions; the Romanizing commissions
began taking over Jewish property; forced labor was imposed to the male members
of the Jewish population. During the Legionary rebellion of January 1941, a
real pogrom took place, when 120 Jews were killed. After the replacement of
the Legionaries from power, the anti-Semitic policy continued at even higher
rates. Among the most serious, we mention the Iasi pogrom, in June 1941 when
a couple of thousands of Jews perished.
A significant fact, and practically the most important chapter of the Holocaust
in Romania, is represented by the deportations. Initially, the regime led by
Ion Antonescu had programmed the deportation of all the citizens of Jewish origin
from Basserabia and Bucovina; afterwards they were to be treated the same as
the Jewish citizens from other areas of the country. The chosen place of deportation
was Transdnistria, the territory between Nistrus and Bug, which came under Romanian
administration.
The massive deportations began on October 9th 1941; they continued for a year.
Romanian citizens, our fellow citizens, around 120,000 of them, were taken from
their homes and embarked on real death trains or sent by foot through rain and
snow for tens and hundreds of kilometers, beyond the Nistrus. On the way, as
well as in Transdnistria, tens of hundreds of Jews died because of the inhuman
treatment, because of cold, diseases, or shootings.
In their memory, at the proposal of several organizations of Holocaust survivors,
as well as of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Romania, and also
out of consideration and respect for the memory of the Romanian Jews who suffered
during those terrible years, the Government has decided the date of October
9th to become the day for the annual remembrance of the Holocaust in Romania.
The deportations have not been the sole component of the Holocaust. I mention only the consequences in Odessa, in October 1941, after the destruction of the Romanian Military Headquarters of the town. A plan elaborated by the German authorities, which established the sending to the Belzec extermination camp of the Jews from all over Romania, was presented to the Romanian side, in August 1942. This plan was not applied, though, and Antonescu decided, in October 1942, to stop the deportations to Transdnistria.
It must be added here that the evolution of the Ion Antonecu regime’s
attitude regarding this problem was determined by the evolution of the war.
During the German victories on the East front, the repercussions against the
Jewish population had reached their top phase, and the regime leaders had often
declared that the so-called Jewish problem was almost solved. As the course
of the war started to change, the attitude of the Antonescu regime became more
diversified and measures which limited the number of victims began to be taken.
This made Romania one of Germany’s allied countries where a considerable
part of its Jewish population managed to survive. Moreover, numerous Jews from
the Northern part of Transylvania, which was under Horthyst occupation, succeeded
to save themselves, by taking refuge in Romania, with the support of the Romanian
citizens and the tacit accord of the authorities. The horrendous tragedy of
the Holocaust was possible because of the complicity of some leaders of the
state institutions – secret services, army, law enforcement forces, etc.,
as well as of those who have executed, sometimes with too much zeal, Marshal
Antonescu’s directives.
On this day of Holocaust commemoration it is natural for us to also mention
the fact that numerous personalities – politicians, high prelates, militaries,
writers, journalists, actors and other public figures – had intervened
with the state authorities in order to annul, or at least relax certain offensive
or oppressive measures. Many Romanians, known or unknown, have risked their
freedom and even their lives in order to save from death their Jewish compatriots.
The known ones are recognized today by the state of Israel as “Righteous
of People” and we are certain that many others are going to be discovered.
Recently, a Romanian priest has received, at an advanced age, this high distinction
for the courage of having helped his Jewish compatriots in Transdnistria. Such
deeds ennoble both the human being and the community they reflect. Countless
other actions of solidarity and support towards their Jewish fellow citizens
were evidenced by many simple Romanians and must also be mentioned, as well
as the actions of the Transylvanian Romanians’ network which, as I mentioned,
have helped numerous Jews in the occupied Transylvania to illegally cross the
border to Romania.
We pay homage today to the Jewish community, which knew how to organize itself in order to oppose the tragedy and to guarantee its survival and continuity. Their efforts extended from the organizing of their own educational system -- Jewish children and youths were forbidden access to the state owned schools, to the unfolding of a specific cultural life, including the Baraseum Theatre, from the repeated interventions with the authorities, to revolt actions, from the support granted to the ones who remained in the country, to the actions aiming to organize the immigration of thousands of Jews to Palestine.
Ladies and gentlemen, commemorating for the first time the Holocaust Day in Romania, I use the occasion of this solemn reunion to suggest that we all bow to the memory of the victims of this tragic event which is part of our past just like the representatives of the sects living in Romania have done during our administration. According to the latest research, during the Holocaust 250,000 people from the territories under Romanian administration have been murdered, for the sole fault of being born Jews; these people were annihilated because of their origin. To this were added over 12.000 Roma ethnics, who have died in Transdnistria in similar circumstances.
The Holocaust has represented one of those serious problems of history, whose
approach was avoided, under the Communist regime, as well as in the period after
1990. Sometimes the facts were concealed, other times the truth was distorted.
There were more than a few cases when responsibility transfers have taken place.
To the Ion Antonescu regime was attributed, for example, the saving of the 400,000
Jews who remained alive after the end of the war; and about the suppressing
of the 250,000 Jews in Romania and in the Soviet territories it was said that
it was the work of the German troops and of the Berlin directives.
Without a doubt, the Nazi regime in Germany carries the major blame for the
Holocaust phenomenon at the European level. But to the Ion Antonescu regime
are corresponding the responsibilities of initiating and organizing the oppressive
and exterminating actions against the Romanian Jews and against Jews in the
territories under Romanian administration. The reality cannot and must not be
concealed. Assuming its own past, with the good and the bad, is not only an
exercise of sincerity, but also a proof of the democratic consciousness, of
the responsibility of the Romanian state leadership, which in one of the decisive
moments of its history did not manage to rise to the height of its essential
mission, that of ensuring the security of all its citizens, regardless of their
ethnic origin.
The tragedy of the Holocaust has a totally different significance today. This
kind of tragedy must not repeat itself, and for this goal nothing has to remain
undone for the young generation to know and to understand the whole truth. This
is the best defense for avoiding in the future the repetition of the tragedies
of the past.
For the in depth study of the Holocaust in Romania was constituted an International
Commission formed of well-known specialists, led by Professor Ellie Wiesel,
born in Romania and Nobel Prize for Peace awardee. The Commission’s report
will be presented in a few weeks, during a reunion of the Commission, in Bucharest.
The document will be the base of the whole activity of continuing the investigation
of this tragic phenomenon and of informing the public opinion, especially the
young generation. In its turn, the Ministry of Education and Research has decided
to include in the school curriculum an optional class dedicated to the Holocaust
in Romania. We observe with satisfaction that, lately, the media, the radios
and the television stations grant more and extensive spaces to this phenomenon,
approached from objective positions. These actions are part of a more ample
program, which envisages knowledge of the past and of the events concerning
the Holocaust. This program comprises legislative measures adopting in order
to prohibit fascist, racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic organizations and symbols,
as well as the persons guilty of crimes against humanity and peace. The first
measure of this type was adopted by the Government in March 2000, and it was
received with satisfaction by the Jewish organizations and by the overwhelming
majority of the public opinion.
Also in 2002, at the National Defense College is taking place a Holocaust history
course. These actions signify the implementation of the commitment taken by
Romania through the accession to the final Declaration of the International
Holocaust Forum in Stockholm, a group created in 1998, at the initiative of
the Prime-minister Goran Persson, whose objective is the promotion of education,
which to remind of the Holocaust tragedy, as well as the encouragement of the
historical research of this phenomenon. We honestly want to understand why in
a country like Romania, which in 1918 had managed to fulfill its destiny through
the Great Union from December the 1st, which had entered an ascending course
of economic and social development, which had political structures and institutions
compatible with the great western democracies, and which integrated the values
of the western culture and civilization, such a virulent anti-Semite trend was
able to develop, and which degenerated in the cruelties of the Holocaust. The
interwar Romanian anti-Semitism is the product of a democratic failure, and
of the assuming denial of that failure by the political elites and the majority
of the intellectual elites. It is, in the same time, a serious morale perverting.
When a nation suffers a trauma like the one suffered by Romania in the 40s,
it can lose its coordinates in the absence of a civic spirit and of value consciousness
and morale duty. There are no excuses for those that sent in a cynical and cold-blooded
manner their co-nationals and co-citizens to death, for those that discriminated,
humiliated and excluded them from society.
The recent past forces us to create those mechanisms and institutions, which
will serve as society’s anti-bodies against diseases of the spirit, which
are racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia. This time, all of us are on the same
side of the barricade, a sign that we have learnt the lesson of solidarity and
of mutual respect.
Ladies and Gentlemen, in my opinion, the Holocaust Day commemoration must first
of all lead to a more solid knowledge of this collective tragedy. Beyond concrete
historical facts, the educational aspects and the change in the perception modalities
of an event with tragic dimensions are very important.
This first commemoration of October 9th must mark the conscious and honest assumption
of a painful episode in the national history, which the public consciousness
and our collective memory must not either hide it or conceal it, or to diminish
its significance. Looking towards the future, tenaciously following the objectives
ahead of us as members of the North-Atlantic Organization and as future members
of the European Union, we have the duty to understand and to assume all the
moments and lessons of the past. The Holocaust Day must represent a moment of
reflection for every one of us, an opportunity to meditate upon totalitarianism
and its tragic consequences, upon the communitarian relations and values of
human solidarity, upon the perennially of democracy, upon legality and abiding
on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens.