Romania

Learn about Romania’s efforts to advance education, remembrance, and research on the Holocaust and genocide of the Roma.

Joined the IHRA

2004

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

27 January

National Holocaust Remembrance Day

9 October

See a list of Romania's delegation members

Bogdan Mazuru (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – Head of Delegation

Dragoș Hotea (Inter-Ministerial Committee) – Deputy Head of Delegation

Felicia Waldman (University of Bucharest) – Deputy Head of Delegation – Education Working Group

Irina Cajal Marin (Ministry of Culture) – Museums and Memorials Working Group

Adrian Cioflanca (Board of the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives, Centre for the Study of the History of Romanian Jews – “Wilhelm Filderman”) – Academic Working Group

Ioana Dumitriu (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) – Museums and Memorials Working Group

Alexandru Florian (Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania) – Academic Working Group

Petre Florin Manole (Roma Education Fund Romania) – Education Working Group

Elisabeth Ungureanu (Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania) – Museums and Memorials Working Group

Zoltán Tibori Szabó (Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca) – Academic Working Group

Alina Bricman (B’nai B’rith International) – Education Working Group

Nicolae Dragusin (Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania) – Museums and Memorials Working Group

Alexandru Muraru (Romanian Government) – Academic Working Group

Irina Dumitrita Solomon (Chancellery of the Romanian Prime Minister) –Museums and Memorials Working Group

Several developments have taken place in Romania since joining the IHRA, including the inauguration of the ‘Romanian National Holocaust Memorial’ in 2009, the updating of primary and secondary school curricula, the publication of new academic and non-academic works on the Holocaust and the development of a national program for teachers, magistrates, police officers and public servants training in Holocaust education and combating antisemitism. In all these efforts we benefited from the expertise of the National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania – “Elie Wiesel” and more than 20 other academic and civic organizations in the country.

In 2010, the discovery of a mass grave in Popricani (Iasi), followed by a verdict that established the responsibility of the Romanian Army for the  genocide committed in 1941, placed Romania among countries committed to the preservation of historic killing sites. Building on remembrance efforts, Romania held the IHRA Chairmanship in 2016-2017. An important achievement was the adoption of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism in May 2016, followed by Romania’s national adoption of the working definition on 25 May 2017.

9 October is the official national Holocaust remembrance day in Romania. This year, the series of official commemoration activities included the following:

-on 3 October the Government in cooperation with the Federation of Jewish Communities organized a videoconference marking the official launch of the textbook for the subject History of the Jews. The Holocaust, which has become part of the mandatory curricula in highschool in Romania;

-on 5 October the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan to Bucharest, an exhibition dedicated to the diplomat Chiune Sugihara, righteous among the nations, who served in Bucharest from 1942 to 1944 and contributed to the saving of Jews;

-on 9 October the Elie Wiesel Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania organized the traditional remembrance event at the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest.

Watch the official launch event here. 

Recent news

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05 Jul 2021 Time to read: 2 mins

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Iasi Pogrom

In June 2021, the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Research of the Holocaust in Romania, in cooperation with the local authorities in Iasi and a special representative of the Romanian Government hosted a series of commemorative events to mark 80 years since the Iasi Pogrom, one of the darkest episodes of the Holocaust in Romania. 

Resources in Romanian

Working Definitions & Charters
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Definiţia de lucru a anti-ţigănismului / discriminării împotriva romilor*

Adoptată la data de 8 octombrie 2020

Working Definitions & Charters
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Definiția de lucru a antisemitismului

Definiția de lucru a antisemitismului a fost adoptată de IHRA în 2016 și de atunci a fost adoptată sau aprobată de un număr de țări și instituții guvernamentale.