Final Report of the International Commission on the - Minority Rights ...

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eported to have said <strong>the</strong> following: “These horrors are an insult to <strong>the</strong> national dignity and are even more revolting as innocent seniors, women, and children are sent to <strong>the</strong>ir death. I learned that <strong>the</strong>se measures were suggested abroad, as some want to do away with Jewish competition in Romania, particularly in Transylvania and Banat.” On October 7, 1942, Bratianu added: “My pleas had no effect. I did my duty and <strong>the</strong> future will show who was right.” Queen Mo<strong>the</strong>r Elena obtained <strong>the</strong> Conducător’s authorization to send aid to Transnistria upon learning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> conditions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> deportees from Rabbi Alexandru Safran. According to Safran, <strong>the</strong> queen mo<strong>the</strong>r sent a special envoy to inform him <strong>of</strong> her actions. Likewise, a note from Richter, written on October 30, 1942, confirms that <strong>the</strong> queen mo<strong>the</strong>r had been informed by Dr. Victor Gomoiu that a new group <strong>of</strong> Jews was to be sent to Transnistria: The queen mo<strong>the</strong>r told <strong>the</strong> king that what was happening to <strong>the</strong> people in this country was awful, that she can no longer stand this, all <strong>the</strong> more so that her name and <strong>the</strong> king’s will be connected with <strong>the</strong> murders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews and so she can expect to remain in history as <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> ‘Michael <strong>the</strong> Terrible.’ She threatened <strong>the</strong> king in earnest that unless deportations stop immediately, she would leave <strong>the</strong> country. As a consequence <strong>the</strong> king called Prime Minister Mihai Antonescu, who called for a Crown Council meeting, during which it was decided that those arrested would be set free; moreover, as a consequence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same initiative [<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> queen mo<strong>the</strong>r], <strong>the</strong> Presidency issued a communiqué that confirmed <strong>the</strong> Crown Council decision. Ano<strong>the</strong>r intelligence report mentions that a group <strong>of</strong> intellectuals (university pr<strong>of</strong>essors, high school teachers, writers) sent a memo to <strong>the</strong> Royal Palace decrying <strong>the</strong> fact that many Jews deported from Bukovina and Bessarabia died <strong>of</strong> hunger, violence, and cold and argued that deportation “becomes, in fact, a methodical and steadfast method <strong>of</strong> extermination.” The same memo emphasized, “it was only in occupied countries that could not defend <strong>the</strong>mselves that <strong>the</strong> Jewish population, in fact only a part <strong>of</strong> it, was deported.” They went on to caution, “a country may also be regarded as an institution based on international treaties issued from <strong>the</strong> agreement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Great Powers that decide <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world,” and “we have to build a new unity despite <strong>the</strong> hardships <strong>of</strong> today.” The memo also asserted that for two years Romania had been at <strong>the</strong> forefront <strong>of</strong> those states persecuting <strong>the</strong> Jews…In <strong>the</strong> atmosphere <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most savage persecution, <strong>of</strong> incessant falsification <strong>of</strong> truth, through <strong>the</strong> cult <strong>of</strong> hatred and <strong>the</strong> exasperation <strong>of</strong> hostilities, we have turned <strong>the</strong> Jewish problem into <strong>the</strong> only state problem <strong>of</strong> Romania. In <strong>the</strong> internal order we promoted a sort <strong>of</strong> anarchic fanaticism, which opened <strong>the</strong> way to kill, rob, and oppress. We were and we are ourselves an oppressed nation. With what right can we complain about oppression by our bro<strong>the</strong>rs who remained outside <strong>the</strong> borders, when we are on our way to exterminating a minority whose rights to life were granted by <strong>the</strong> same treaties that guarantied our national frontier? It is a duty inspired by concern for <strong>the</strong> future [that demands] we stop…<strong>the</strong> persecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews who are being led in an organized manner toward a national catastrophe. Long ago, we passed <strong>the</strong> limit allowed to a state <strong>of</strong> law and a state <strong>of</strong> human beings. We can wait until <strong>the</strong> Jewish problem is solved as a whole at <strong>the</strong> peace conference, which will decide <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> all states. There <strong>the</strong> situation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews from Romania will be decided, and <strong>the</strong>re <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews will be decided, as well. Solidarity and Rescue Efforts <strong>of</strong> Clergymen and Diplomats Rabbi Alexandru Safran wrote that Orthodox Church leader Mitropolit Balan had asked Antonescu not to transfer authority over sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvanian Jews to <strong>the</strong> Nazis. Safran noted that after he told Balan about <strong>the</strong> plight <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews imprisoned in a building on Sfantul Ioan Nou Street in Bucharest, <strong>the</strong>
Mitropolit pleaded with Mihai Antonescu. As a result, <strong>the</strong> prime minister decided that <strong>the</strong>y were to be set free. In addition, according to Safran’s testimony, Patriarch Nicodim protested to <strong>the</strong> government to cancel <strong>the</strong> order forcing Jews to wear <strong>the</strong> yellow star. Romanian diplomats also became involved in rescuing <strong>the</strong> Jews, beginning in 1943. The Romanian Legation in Budapest, headed by Eugen Filotti, issued numerous transit visas. The Romanian Ministry <strong>of</strong> Foreign Affairs sent instructions to its embassies in Berlin, Rome, and A<strong>the</strong>ns to protect Jews <strong>of</strong> Romanian origin. Constantin Tincu, representative <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Consulate in Budapest, participated in <strong>the</strong> rescue <strong>of</strong> “hundreds <strong>of</strong> persecuted Jews” who would have o<strong>the</strong>rwise been sent to Auschwitz. Mihai Marina, chief representative <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Consulate in Oradea, and a number <strong>of</strong> civil servants (Anghel Lupescu, Ion Romascam, Mihai Hotea, Mihai Mihai) actively helped Jews in nor<strong>the</strong>astern Transylvania emigrate to Romania. They would drive to ghettos, pick up Jews, and drive <strong>the</strong>m across <strong>the</strong> border in <strong>the</strong> Romanian Consulate’s car. Sometimes, <strong>the</strong>y also gave <strong>the</strong> rescued Jews some money. On <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> a report received by Dr. Kupfet Miksa <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Oradea Ghetto, and according to Miksa’s own notes, Mihai Marina wrote a comprehensive report on what was happening to <strong>the</strong> Jews sent by train to Auschwitz. This report was transmitted to Vespassian V. Pella, <strong>the</strong> Romanian ambassador in Switzerland, upon Pella’s visit to Oradea. Pella took <strong>the</strong> report to <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> Red Cross in Vienna. This report supported <strong>the</strong> mounting evidence on <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> ghettos and in Auschwitz. Dumitru Metta <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian embassy in Vichy, France, acted on Mihai Antonescu’s request that Romanian Jews in France be spared. Over 4,000 Romanian Jews living in France were saved thanks to various Romanian diplomats, and several hundreds were repatriated via Nazi Germany. Constantin Karadjea, head <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Consulate in Berlin and, for a short time, head <strong>of</strong> Consular Services <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Ministry <strong>of</strong> Foreign Affairs, made remarkable efforts to rescue Romanian Jews in Germany and German-occupied countries. In his <strong>of</strong>ficial reports he <strong>of</strong>ten referred to <strong>the</strong> extermination <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in Germany and German-occupied territories and <strong>the</strong> need to save <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews who lived <strong>the</strong>re. The “Righteous Among Nations” in Postcommunist Public Discourse Heavily ideologized and manipulated by communist rule, Romanian historiography also contributed to <strong>the</strong> political manipulation <strong>of</strong> research on Romania’s participation in <strong>the</strong> Holocaust. The consequences <strong>of</strong> this distortion continued after 1990. The excessive propagandistic concern for “Romania’s image abroad,” ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> sincere concern for exposing historical truths, also affected how <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> Romanian rescuers was approached. For example, <strong>the</strong>re was a unilateral focus on cases <strong>of</strong> ethnic Romanian rescuers, particularly those acting in Hungarian-occupied Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania. This approach rendered a twisted image <strong>of</strong> reality by publicly projecting a deceptive correlation between <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> rescuers in a specific region to <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> atrocities in that region. This manipulation also obscured <strong>the</strong> atrocities in Romanian-controlled territory and <strong>the</strong> responsibility <strong>of</strong> Romanian perpetrators. More recently, however, a new generation <strong>of</strong> historians emerged. It is legitimate to expect from <strong>the</strong>m an adequate approach to <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holocaust in Romania, in general, and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Righteous among Nations, in particular. The list <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> citizens from <strong>the</strong> Moldova Republic awarded with “Righteous Among <strong>the</strong> Nations” Title by Yad Vashem Lozan, Paramon Lozan, Tamara Paramon and Tamara Lozan lived in <strong>the</strong> town <strong>of</strong> Nisporeny in Moldova. Paramon was <strong>the</strong> principal <strong>of</strong>
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Final Repo
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Germany’s war against the
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which includes reputed experts led
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BACKGROUND AND PRECURSORS TO THE HO
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against which antisemites in <stron
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declaring in the p
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them. Thus, he con
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We must organize ourselves for a wa
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ureaucracy of wart
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this direction by Nicolae C. Paules
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promising leader of</strong
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organized a tariff and tax strike.
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Legion of
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less so in Romanian society as a wh
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This ambiguous, self-contradictory
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The Gigurtu government began to con
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The Case of Român
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Cuza’s argument that it is possib
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Românesc,” Sociologie Româneasc
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ole in the early 1
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European states, notably Romania an
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Germany's immediate interests at <s
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eligious communities, the</
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counterpart, “when [he] first met
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de Istorie şi Arheologie, “A. D.
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Romania. Muler to Luthe</st
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demands on territorial revisions an
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military mission to come to Romania
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High Command, informing the
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The Jews and the R
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Romanian army. Thus, in Ciudei in <
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antisemitism in Romanian society an
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Ibid., fond Micro-films, roll I.II,
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manifestations of
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power, as this power colonized West
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attraction, many Jews resettled in
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to defend itself; hence its support
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about the Holocaus
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Nichifor Crainic, “Dupa douazeci
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Isaia Tolan, “Revizuirea incetate
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X. Y. Z., “Rezolvarea problemei e
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andom searches and arrests, robberi
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Bucharest Prefectura. Almost two th
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epression was not ordered by Antone
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from villages and small towns. On J
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accident; it was contrived by <stro
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The second train to leave Iasi for
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care of th
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"premilitary," were also placed at
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according to the o
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Tighina Agreement On August 30, Tra
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elieved Transnistria would be occup
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the 331,000 Ukrain
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those inside to take the</s
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[longer] move.” After several wee
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eappear a few seconds later and sig
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operation and that “some
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Bukovina and Bessarabia. Einsatzkom
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other things, <str
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Berezovka district and burn <strong
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them in exchange f
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transport of 2,000
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Bulgarian, Turkish, Italian, or Swi
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were at least 122,000 Jews. Bukovin
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Wilhelm Hoettl, The Secret Front: T
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Ancel, Documents, vol. 2: no. 136,
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Carp, Cartea neagra, vol. 3: pp. 30
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Gosudartsveni Archiv Odeskoi Oblast
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Cable from the Mil
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1-1087, p. 114; list of</st
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Ibid. “Rezolvarea problemei evrei
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child’s birth, would be considere
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Indeed, the system
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Romanianization instead of<
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The Cultural Ghettoization
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The Status of Jewi
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give up any radios able to send and
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Conclusions The anti-Jewish legisla
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L.A., no. 99, p. 344. Trei ani de g
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moral, social, and intellectual nee
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gradually, in reality the</
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except being defined as a Jew. I be
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egulate and authorize, under <stron
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y Lecca: Jews were privileged, and
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through the activi
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oth as a cry of re
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After coming to power, the<
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and then to send <
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their non-evacuate
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villages of <stron
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Return of Roma Sur
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(in many cases, the</strong
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in Romania. History and Contemporar
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THE ROLE OF ION ANTONESCU IN THE PL
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December 16, 1941, meeting
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Page 199 and 200: Others 22 968 Magy
Page 201 and 202: ultimatum but also consented to <st
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Page 247 and 248: Ibid., pp. 224-225. Ibid., pp. 46-4
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Page 255 and 256: means. The “ethnic Christian stat
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Page 267 and 268: camp in January 1945, for several m
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Page 283 and 284: Finally, it must b
Page 285 and 286: A.) Integral Negationism Although <
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Page 289 and 290: mankind, such as wars; the<
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After deploring the</strong
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Michael Shafir, “Ex Occidente Obs
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See, for example, Giurescu who make
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Randolph L. Braham, Romanian Nation
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Mediafax, March 18, 2002, Monitorul
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See Ibidem, pp. 3, 54-55. Ibidem, p
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Radu Theodoru, Mareşalul, Editura
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egained from the U
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was a record of an
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secondary school use. Those institu
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including erecting statues, mountin
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