The „Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania published its annual report on Tuesday, July 30, which revealed that in the wake of the Middle East conflict following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, antisemitic sentiment is on the rise in the United States and European countries, including Romania.
The report, which covers the period May 2023 to April 2024, shows that hate messages are mainly spread through online spaces, street demonstrations, vandalism, and media bias, but Romanian political leaders have also been known to have delivered antisemitic and Holocaust-denying messages in parliament without consequences, the MTI reported.
According to a press release from the Research Institute, the introduction of a new subject on the history of the Jews and the Holocaust in Romanian secondary schools has also fuelled anti-Holocaust, conspiratorial and antisemitic messages.
According to the institute, the statistics from the General Prosecutor’s Office show that Romanian law enforcement agencies do not consider the investigation of allegations of antisemitic hate speech a priority.
The report notes a „positive trend” on the part of the authorities to remove names of war criminals from public spaces and commends the government’s adoption of the second phase of the „National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Radicalisation and Hate Speech” for the period of 2024-2027. On the other hand, it notes that there is a gap between the commitment of central authorities and the implementation of public policies at the local level to combat antisemitism.
According to the report, during the researched period, Nazi symbols and slogans were scrawled on the walls of synagogues in Timisoara and Sighisoara, and on public buildings in Bucharest and Jazaara. Events were organised in public institutions to honour the representatives of the Romanian fascist movement between the two world wars, and objects and photographs of Marshal Ion Antonescu and the leaders of the Iron Guard, as well as fascist advertising material from the interwar period, were sold at public auctions.
The report cited the parliamentary speeches of Senator Diana Soșoacă as an example of antisemitism and trivialisation of the Holocaust within the government, which resulted in no consequences in the political society.
Source: TransTelex
Photo credit: AFP PHOTO / MIRCEA ROSCA
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