Tradition, Nationalism and Holocaust Memory: Reassessing Antisemitism in Post-Communist Romania

Abstract

This article is a re-evaluation of the Holocaust memory in the contemporary Romanian society. It shows that from its inception, Romania’s nation-building process went hand in hand with antisemitism. Furthermore, it points out that after 1989 the country’s sense of frustration at its communist past managed to obscure the memory of the Holocaust. Despite Romania’s government recognition of the country’s involvement in the Holocaust (2004), a wholehearted acknowledgement of the issue remains improbable at the general level of Romania’s society. A new law to counteract Holocaust denial was adopted in Romania in 2015. However, the country has proved ever since that it has barely come to terms with its historical legacy.*