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

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assassination <strong>of</strong> historian Nicolae Iorga ei<strong>the</strong>r, Coja would claim in a book published in 1999. That assassination was part <strong>of</strong> a plot ordered by <strong>the</strong> KGB, which had infiltrated <strong>the</strong> movement. And—Coja is heavily hinting in <strong>the</strong> book—it is a well-kept secret that <strong>the</strong> KGB was in <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “occult.” The same “occult” would eventually order <strong>the</strong> assassination <strong>of</strong> Nicolae Ceauşescu, as indeed it would commission <strong>the</strong> liquidation <strong>of</strong> Romanian-born scholar Ioan Petru Culianu in <strong>the</strong> U.S. in May 1991— knowing that <strong>the</strong> scholar had discovered <strong>the</strong> secrets <strong>of</strong> its world domination. By September 2003, building on ano<strong>the</strong>r absurdity published by journalist Vladimir Alexe <strong>the</strong> same month (in <strong>the</strong> daily România liberă ) claimed that before <strong>the</strong> 1941 Bucharest pogrom Antonescu had sealed a secret pact with <strong>the</strong> underground Communist Party, Coja would conclude that <strong>the</strong> Jewish victims <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pogrom had been liquidated by <strong>the</strong>ir own co-religionists (dressed in <strong>the</strong> green shirts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Legionnaires) who were communists serving <strong>the</strong> Soviet interest: to compromise <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard and end its partnership with Antonescu. Just a few months later, however, Coja turned <strong>the</strong> tables once again on his never-ending tales, now claiming to be in <strong>the</strong> possession <strong>of</strong> a notarized testimony <strong>of</strong> a nonagenarian witness to <strong>the</strong> events, according to whom <strong>the</strong> bodies hanged at <strong>the</strong> slaughter house were <strong>of</strong> Iron Guardists massacred by Jews. C.) Selective Negationism Nowhere in East Central Europe is this type <strong>of</strong> Holocaust denial (which acknowledges <strong>the</strong> perpetration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Shoah provided that it is not extended to compatriots’ participation in <strong>the</strong> genocide) more widespread than in Romania. It rejects any state (Romanian), regime (Antonescu and his governmental team and army) or Legionnaire responsibility for <strong>the</strong> Holocaust. As deflective negationism does, this discourse stems from a self-exonerating nationalist strategy. Throughout <strong>the</strong> 1990s, Buzatu edited or prefaced a number <strong>of</strong> volumes presenting <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard and its leader in a favorable light. Until only recently, Buzatu was still willing to admit that <strong>the</strong> Guard had indulged in crime, although he exonerated it by depicting <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>fense as an autochthonous reaction to Bolshevism and its crimes, in which Jews had been allegedly prominently involved. As he formulated it in an article published in “România mare” on December 22, 1995, “Crime Begets Crime.” More recently, however, he fully embraced <strong>the</strong> postures <strong>of</strong> selective negationism that Coja has been displaying from <strong>the</strong> start. In July 2001, Buzatu and Coja organized in Bucharest a symposium whose title— “Has <strong>the</strong>re been a Holocaust in Romania?”—was telling in itself. The symposium was divided into two panels. The first examined <strong>the</strong> “questionable” occurrence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Shoah in Romania, while <strong>the</strong> second focused on <strong>the</strong> reasons for <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> a “powerfully-institutionalized anti-Romanianism.” At <strong>the</strong> conclusion <strong>of</strong> this conference, Coja established <strong>the</strong> League for <strong>the</strong> Struggle against Anti-Romanianism (LICAR) and appointed himself as chairman. The symposium’s resolution was published, among o<strong>the</strong>r places, in <strong>the</strong> Iron Guardists journal “Permanenţe” in both Romanian and “pigeon English.” The document was signed “pro forma” by Coja and emblematically assumed <strong>the</strong> selective negationist posture. Its authors, it was stated, “want to make clear that we have nothing to do with those people and opinions contesting as a whole <strong>the</strong> occurrence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish holocaust [sic!] during World War II.” It said that Jews “have suffered almost everywhere in <strong>the</strong> Europe [sic!] <strong>of</strong> those years, but not in Romania,” and it added that “testimonies <strong>of</strong> trustworthy Jews” prove that “<strong>the</strong> Romanian people had in those years a behavior honoring human dignity [sic!].” In support <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir affirmations, <strong>the</strong> participants raised several “arguments.” They started by presenting excerpts from what <strong>the</strong>y claimed was <strong>the</strong> 1955 testimony <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former leader <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Federation <strong>of</strong> Jewish Communities in Romania, Wilhelm Filderman, before a Swiss court. The document has never been produced and whe<strong>the</strong>r it really exists is doubtful. The alleged testimony had been mentioned for <strong>the</strong> first time in a 1994 volume in an editor’s note written by American historian Kurt
Treptow who was residing in Romania. Treptow, whose pro-Legion and pro-Antonescu sympathies were well known, for long benefited from support on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian authorities. Coja wrote that it was from this tome that he had first learned about <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Swiss “testimony.” According to Treptow, <strong>the</strong> document could be found in <strong>the</strong> archives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Buzatu-managed Iaşi Center for European History and Civilization. However, Buzatu was eventually forced to admit that <strong>the</strong> alleged “testimony” had been simply lifted from an article published in <strong>the</strong> tabloid Baricada. The tabloid’s editors claimed to have received it from Matei Cazacu, a historian <strong>of</strong> Romanian origins born in France. Upon being contacted by <strong>the</strong> Theodor Wexler, <strong>the</strong> vice president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Filderman Foundation, Cazacu declined any knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “document” In his address to <strong>the</strong> symposium, as well as in an article published in <strong>the</strong> recently-launched Revista Mareşal Ion Antonescu (Marshal Ion Antonescu Review) article, Coja brought ano<strong>the</strong>r “witness” to <strong>the</strong> stand <strong>of</strong> “Romanian innocence”: former Romanian Chief Rabbi Alexandru Şafran. The nonagenarian Jewish leader was said to have <strong>of</strong>fered <strong>the</strong> son <strong>of</strong> Gheorghe Alexianu, (<strong>the</strong> governor <strong>of</strong> Transnistria executed in 1946 toge<strong>the</strong>r with Antonescu) a book with a dedication exonerating his fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> any crimes. Political scientist Michael Shafir investigated <strong>the</strong> allegation by contacting Dan Şafran, <strong>the</strong> grandson <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former Chief Rabbi. From his hospital bed, Şafran directed Shafir to his memoirs, in which Alexianu is mentioned only once and is described as “famous for his cruelty.” The resolution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Coja-Buzatu symposium also embraces Coja’s position on <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard’s nonparticipation in <strong>the</strong> Bucharest 1941 pogrom. As Coja had already done in <strong>the</strong> past, <strong>the</strong> resolution claims that <strong>the</strong> Nuremberg war crimes tribunal had investigated “all [wartime] crimes against humanity” and that <strong>the</strong> Legionary Movement has also been investigated. Prosecutors, however, are said to have reached <strong>the</strong> conclusion that <strong>the</strong> movement cannot be charged with “any wrong doing, any genocidal crime.” The legend about <strong>the</strong> movement’s acquittal <strong>of</strong> charges has been created and disseminated by exiled Iron Guardists (see infra), while Coja has diligently promoted it in Romania. As is well known, <strong>the</strong> Nuremberg <strong>International</strong> Tribunal has never dealt with crimes o<strong>the</strong>r than those committed by Nazi Germany. In 2001, Buzatu endorsed <strong>the</strong> publication by <strong>the</strong> Center for History and European Civilization that he headed <strong>of</strong> a foul brochure authored by <strong>the</strong> young PRM parliamentary deputy Vlad Hogea. Entitled The Nationalist, <strong>the</strong> brochure is a collection <strong>of</strong> articles previously published in “România mare” or <strong>the</strong> PRM weekly Politica. It also includes some pamphlets published in <strong>the</strong> Iaşi tabloid Atac la Târgu’ Ieşilor, which are called by Hogea “studies.” One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se “studies” is titled “What Holocaust?” with <strong>the</strong> subtitle “Marshal Antonescu protected Romania’s Jews.” Hogea, too, is citing Filderman’s “testimony” alongside historians who, he says, treated with objectivity <strong>the</strong> 1940-1944 period. Among <strong>the</strong> names mentioned are Buzatu, Ioan Scurtu, Valeriu-Florin Dobrinescu, Iosif Constantin Drăgan, Mircea Muşat, General Ion Gheorghe, and Colonel Gheorghe Magherescu. These historians, he claims, relied on documents which clearly demonstrate that <strong>the</strong> Jews in Romania were not subjected to extermination by <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime.” The brochure’s anti-Jewish rhetoric <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book is shrill and <strong>the</strong> author does not hesitate to rely on <strong>the</strong> authority <strong>of</strong> Julius Streichner, <strong>the</strong> infamous Nazi Jew-hater executed in Nuremberg as a war criminal. It is hardly surprising, <strong>the</strong>n, to find Hogea writing that “<strong>the</strong> Jewish-Khazar anti-Christs tried to overcome <strong>the</strong>ir complex <strong>of</strong> spiritual inferiority by fully bestializing <strong>the</strong>ir affective experiences;” or that “Both Bolshevik Marxism and savage capitalism were invented by <strong>the</strong> same bearded rabbis and moneychangers who at secret meetings would endlessly bumble words and devise ever and ever newer protocols to enslave <strong>the</strong> ‘goyms’ [non-Jews].” Hogea’s book triggered a press scandal, but <strong>the</strong> politician did not lose his parliamentary seat, although his writings were in clear breach <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Penal Code. Buzatu submitted a formal resignation from <strong>the</strong> directorship <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Iaşi Center, yet continued to maintain a de facto control over <strong>the</strong> institution. As illustrated by <strong>the</strong> implementation <strong>of</strong> governmental Emergency Ordinance No. 31 <strong>of</strong> March 13,
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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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me from carrying out the</s
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did not do it because…the
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more ironically, this leader’s wa
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THE HOLOCAUST IN NORTHERN TRANSYLVA
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Others 22 968 Magy
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ultimatum but also consented to <st
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military, political, and psychologi
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command over the g
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Huedin. The Jews of</strong
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authorities set up two ghettos in <
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Secuilor counties was carried out i
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the procedure foll
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deportation trains per day. While E
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Deportation Trains from Nor
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Câtcău Kackó Ciuc Csík Ciucea C
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Rona de Sus Felsöróna Rozavica Ro
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Bözödújfalu Bezidu Nou Budfalva
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Nagysajó Şieu (Bistrita-Nasaud Co
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(Indictment of Naz
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Page 243 and 244: Mitropolit pleaded with Mihai Anton
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Page 247 and 248: Ibid., pp. 224-225. Ibid., pp. 46-4
Page 249 and 250: the examined cases
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Page 253 and 254: immense scale, enslaved millions <s
Page 255 and 256: means. The “ethnic Christian stat
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Page 261 and 262: viaţă, 100 milioane lei amendă
Page 263 and 264: Articolul 15 al Convenţiei de armi
Page 265 and 266: members accepted as authoritative s
Page 267 and 268: camp in January 1945, for several m
Page 269 and 270: Beginning in the 1
Page 271 and 272: such access was strictly supervised
Page 273 and 274: enefit from translation into Englis
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Page 277 and 278: lucrative Jewish business ever,”
Page 279: deaths of thousand
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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Page 293 and 294: After deploring the</strong
Page 295 and 296: Michael Shafir, “Ex Occidente Obs
Page 297 and 298: See, for example, Giurescu who make
Page 299 and 300: Randolph L. Braham, Romanian Nation
Page 301 and 302: Mediafax, March 18, 2002, Monitorul
Page 303 and 304: See Ibidem, pp. 3, 54-55. Ibidem, p
Page 305 and 306: Radu Theodoru, Mareşalul, Editura
Page 307 and 308: egained from the U
Page 309 and 310: was a record of an
Page 311 and 312: secondary school use. Those institu
Page 313: including erecting statues, mountin
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