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

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latter book ended up in a criminal ruling against Garaudy in a French court. Yet <strong>the</strong> translation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> book was well received in Romania, not only by extreme-right publications, but also by mainstream figures, which defended <strong>the</strong> book in <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> free speech. Romanian negationists and antisemites in general are very fond <strong>of</strong> publications dealing with <strong>the</strong> “international Jewish conspiracy,” a category appropriate for <strong>the</strong> books mentioned in <strong>the</strong> previous paragraph. Autochthonous or translated literature on <strong>the</strong> Jewish conspiracy is far too large to be discussed here at length. Yet, it was unusual to witness—aside from <strong>the</strong> predictable applause with which <strong>the</strong> publication in Romanian translation <strong>of</strong> Garaudy’s book was met by <strong>the</strong> Sibiu-based pro-Legionary Puncte cardinale—intellectuals <strong>of</strong> liberal persuasion coming to Garaudy’s defense in <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> free speech. Literary critic and university pr<strong>of</strong>essor Manolescu (at that time also a prominent member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> PNL leadership) was joined by journalist Cristian Tudor Popescu, <strong>the</strong> editor-in-chief <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mainstream daily Adevarul. For Popescu, <strong>the</strong> sentencing <strong>of</strong> Garaudy was on par with “convicting Descartes.” If <strong>the</strong> book’s Romanian defenders could argue, as Manolescu did, that Garaudy did not entirely negate <strong>the</strong> Holocaust in The Founding Myths, having only objected to “some exaggerations,” <strong>the</strong> claim could no longer be made for a 1999-published translation <strong>of</strong> his volume The Trial <strong>of</strong> Israeli Zionism: Unmasking <strong>the</strong> <strong>International</strong> Zionist Conspiracy, where <strong>the</strong> negationist argument is embraced full-scale. Yet none <strong>of</strong> his defenders in Romania saw it necessary to distance <strong>the</strong>mselves from <strong>the</strong> positions <strong>the</strong>y had earlier displayed. Western influence is also felt in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> deflecting negationism. When writer Ion Buduca and journalist Vladimir Alexe cast <strong>the</strong> blame for <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holocaust on <strong>the</strong> Jews (see surpa), <strong>the</strong>y in fact reproduce <strong>the</strong> “revisionist” argument first made by Bardèche and later by Verrall, Harwood, Faurisson, Irving, and Ernst Nolte. The controversial Nolte was last among <strong>the</strong> “revisionists” to adopt this position, and his influence on Romanian selective negationism is particularly powerful. Influences <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Exile Romanian expatriates played a crucial role in reproducing and spreading negationist arguments both before and after 1989. Before delving into <strong>the</strong> argument, it is important to note <strong>the</strong> distinction that should be made between intellectual and political exiles on one hand and <strong>the</strong> “masses” <strong>of</strong> refugees on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, i.e., between <strong>the</strong> active minority and <strong>the</strong> diaspora caught in processes <strong>of</strong> assimilation in host countries. Between <strong>the</strong> two, <strong>the</strong>re is not necessarily a relationship <strong>of</strong> representativeness. The politically mobilized Romanian exile has had in general a “right-wing” orientation, and it is notorious that <strong>the</strong> extreme Right has been over-represented among its ranks when it came to publishing. It must be stressed, however, that <strong>the</strong> “exile” is not a compact and homogenous group whose main distinctive feature, as it were, would be found in negationism. Ra<strong>the</strong>r, one deals in this case with a kind <strong>of</strong> “interface” between <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong> those who live in <strong>the</strong> country and <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong> those who live abroad; hence, what forms <strong>of</strong> negationism are encountered is largely dependent on <strong>the</strong> type <strong>of</strong> links existing between different social environments, as well as on <strong>the</strong> personal history <strong>of</strong> each expatriate. In addition, it should be mentioned that although “exile” is a historical phenomenon similar to that encountered in <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r East European “exiles” and is thus doomed to disappearance, <strong>the</strong> Romanian exile has displayed both before <strong>the</strong> communist period and after it a remarkable capability <strong>of</strong> self-reproduction. In fact, <strong>the</strong> demise <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> communist regime has acted as a stimulating factor in <strong>the</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> negationist outlooks. The ascribed symbolic value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> exile and its acknowledged “elite” status make possible for it to exert on <strong>the</strong> home country an influence far superior to <strong>the</strong> relatively modest social status <strong>of</strong> its members in <strong>the</strong> host counties. <strong>Final</strong>ly, it should also be emphasized that <strong>the</strong> exile produced not only negationism-prone personalities, but also intellectuals whose contribution to revealing <strong>the</strong> true dimension <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> crimes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Legionnaires and <strong>of</strong> Antonescu’s regime has been remarkable. Suffice it to mention here <strong>the</strong> works <strong>of</strong> Dr. Ion Solacolu and <strong>of</strong> William Totok, both living in Germany.
A.) Integral Negationism Although <strong>the</strong> advocates <strong>of</strong> integral negationism were peripheral to <strong>the</strong> Romanian diaspora, <strong>the</strong>y played a crucial role in linking domestic supporters <strong>of</strong> Romanian national-communism with <strong>the</strong> networks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> exiled Romanian extreme-right, whose texts <strong>the</strong>y managed to popularize in <strong>the</strong> country. One such agent <strong>of</strong> integral negationism was <strong>the</strong> expatriate group that ran a Romanian bookshop in Paris (Librairie roumaine du savoir, antitotalitaire). The owner, George Dănescu-Pişcoci, is also <strong>the</strong> distributor and editor <strong>of</strong> Romanian Iron Guard literature as well as <strong>of</strong> French negationist literature (<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> La Vieille Taupe circle). He is notable for having been <strong>the</strong> main promoter <strong>of</strong> Garaudy’s Founding Myth. As Bernard Camboulives has shown, <strong>the</strong> group associated with this bookshop is not much <strong>of</strong> a former “center <strong>of</strong> anticommunist struggle.” Ra<strong>the</strong>r, it is more <strong>of</strong> a “a den for spreading revisionist and negationist outlooks directed against <strong>the</strong> ‘dominant Western beliefs.” Even just a superficial examination <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> library’s “antitotalitarianism” shows that it is nothing short <strong>of</strong> “a means serving those who question <strong>the</strong> gas chamber to give vent to <strong>the</strong>ir ideas,” Camboulives wrote. Integral negationism was also “imported” from <strong>the</strong> West with <strong>the</strong> help <strong>of</strong> exiled Iron Guard members. For a while, <strong>the</strong> main publication embracing Legionary positions was <strong>the</strong> Timişoara-based Gazeta de vest whose editor-in-chief was Ovidiu Guleş—a supporter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Horia Sima wing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movement. Gazeta de vest—as well as <strong>the</strong> Gordian publishing housed which specialized in Iron Guard literature and its dissemination—was financed by <strong>the</strong> Iron Guardist Zaharia Marineasa. After <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> Horia Sima in 1993, and until his own death in 1997, Marineasa was a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Interior Command Group <strong>of</strong> legionary veterans, whose chief was Mircea Nicolau. Marineasa, who spent twenty-one years in jail under both Antonescu and <strong>the</strong> Communists, also financed several o<strong>the</strong>r publishing outlets specializing in <strong>the</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movement’s propaganda in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Sibiu and Chişinău. He died shortly before <strong>the</strong> January 1998 launching <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Bucharest-based publication “Permanenţe”. The publication—also a Sima-wing outlet—has Nicolau as editor-in-chief. While Gazeta de vest and <strong>the</strong> rival Codreanu-wing Mişcarea have since ceased publication, <strong>the</strong> Legionary Sibiu-based monthly Puncte cardinale continues to appear regularly. In <strong>the</strong> meantime, one more Iron Guardist monthly, Obiectiv legionar, is being printed in Bucharest. Its editor-in-chief is Şerban Suru, to whom <strong>the</strong> veterans <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> movement deny <strong>the</strong> status <strong>of</strong> au<strong>the</strong>ntic Legionnaire. The importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se publications must not be exaggerated, but <strong>the</strong>ir local and international influence should not be ignored. When it was still active, Gazeta de vest sold 2,000 copies and Puncte cardinale was distributed mainly abroad. The neo-Legionary group in Timişoara developed important connections with extreme-right parties abroad or with <strong>the</strong> extremist <strong>International</strong> Third Position (ITP). Moreover, Gordian used to publish a Romanian edition <strong>of</strong> ITP’s main publication, <strong>Final</strong> Conflict, and <strong>the</strong> ITP adopted <strong>the</strong> Legion’s forms <strong>of</strong> organization (<strong>the</strong> “nests”), as did <strong>the</strong> Portuguese National Revolutionary Front. The Timişoara Legionnaires were in contact with <strong>the</strong> British extreme-right League <strong>of</strong> Saint George as well as with <strong>the</strong> youth organization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> German extreme-right National Democratic Party. The German Office for <strong>the</strong> Protection <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Constitution took note <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se meetings. The group went on pilgrimage to Spain several times, to Majadahonda, where <strong>the</strong> Guard’s “martyrs” Ion Moţa and Vasile Marin died fighting in <strong>the</strong> Spanish civil war. <strong>International</strong> links, in particular with extreme-right Western anti-globalization circles and notably with French groups <strong>of</strong> Alain de Benoist persuasions are also maintained by Noua Dreaptă (The New Right, ND), an extremist group set up in 1994 by Bogdan George Rădulescu. (This group must not be confused with <strong>the</strong> 2000-established Noua Dreaptă led by Tudor Ionescu, which publishes on Internet a journal with <strong>the</strong> same name nor with Partidul Dreapta Naţională (PDN), led by Radu Sorescu and Cornel Brahaş, which used to publish <strong>the</strong> journal Noua dreaptă). Rădulescu’s Noua Dreaptă publishes <strong>the</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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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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Randolph L. Braham, comp. and ed. (
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perceived by a significant part <st
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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 259 and 260: face să pară evident că victimel
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,”
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Page 283: Finally, it must b
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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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