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Remembering the Victims in Romania

06.10.2017

On 9 October 2017, Romania commemorates the victims of the Holocaust in Romania. The day signifies the beginning of the deportation of Jews to Transnistria in 1941 and each year Romanian institutions organize events dedicated to honoring the memory of the victims of the Holocaust on this day.

An official wreath-laying ceremony was organized this year at the Memorial of the Victims of the Holocaust of Romania, in Bucharest, by the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. High-level officials from the Presidential Administration, Parliament, members of the Government, representatives of the Roma and Jewish communities, and the diplomatic core attended. A parliamentary delegation from the Knesset was also present.

"The honouring of the victims of the Holocaust is an expression of Romania's commitment to assume its past and places the country on the side of democratic values", said the message of Romania President Klaus Johannis, delivered by presidential counsellor Adrian Muraru.

Romania chairing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016-2017 and the adoption in Romania of the working definition of antisemitism were mentioned in the messages of the President of the Chamber of Deputies and by the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania, as recent expressions of the country's commitment to fighting antisemitism and to preserving the memory of the Holocaust. Efforts by other Governments to adopt the definition nationally were also mentioned and commended.

The official commemoration ceremony was followed by an event organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania during which the Federation awarded its Medal of Honor to the members of the Elie Wiesel International Commission for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania.

Image: Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minister delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrecu and state secretary for interinstitutional affairs Victor Micula) laying a wreath