OUTRAGE OVER ROMANIAN DENIAL OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE HOLOCAUST

Government, Military, and Gendarmerie Bore “Direct Responsibility”

Toronto, June 16, 2003

For Immediate Release

Toronto, June 16, 2003 … Thousands of Canadian Jews of Romanian descent are shocked at the statement recently issued by the Romanian Ministry of Public Information that “within the borders of Romania between 1940 and 1945 there was no Holocaust”. B’nai Brith Canada challenged this statement citing a “clear historical record” to the contrary.

In fact, of Romania’s prewar population of 760,000-800,000 Jews, 425,000 were murdered. Many of these were deported to the death camps, but hundreds of thousands of Romanian Jews were slaughtered on Romanian or Romanian-administered territory. The Antonescu government planned and implemented its own campaign, involving its police, military, and militia units.

“The historical record is clear”, stated Rochelle Wilner, President of B’nai Brith Canada. “Evidence of Romanian atrocities perpetrated during the Holocaust abounds. Justice is not served by such specious denials. Accepting responsibility is critical to healing deep wounds and building a better, more tolerant future. We call upon the Government of Romania to set the record straight.”

Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President, commented. “The vast majority of the Jewish population of Bessarabia and Bukovina was exterminated by German troops with the active help of the Romanian authorities. Tens of thousands were victims of pogroms, death sentences and summary executions at the hands of Romanians. For the Romanian government to deny these facts is an obscenity.”

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For further information contact: Joseph Ben-Ami, Director of Communications at 613-294-7313

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.