15 June 2003
Yad Vashem objects to the Romanian government’s statement that “there was no Holocaust inside Romanian borders between the years 1940-1945.” Yad Vashem emphasizes that this statement is false and without factual basis especially in light of the fact that the murder of Jews in greater Romania during the Holocaust has already been established. Yad Vashem has only recently published a comprehensive book by Dr. John Ancel detailing the roots of the Holocaust in greater Romania, illustrating that during the Holocaust 420,000 Jews were murdered in greater Romania (240,000 were Romanian citizens, 180,000 were citizens of the FSU).
“This research indicates that the Romanian government in Bucharest together with the Romanian army and the Romanian police bear direct responsibility for the murder of a large number of the Jews in greater Romania during World War II,” adds Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev. “The information is based on documents that were collected from archives worldwide, including archives in Romania that are now located at Yad Vashem and available to researchers.”
“It is difficult to believe that a country which endeavors to establish a democratic regime would present such a distorted version of historical events,” says Shalev.
