Senator Şova denies the Holocaust in Romania

Alert DateMarch 5, 2012 Country: Romania General Type: Discrimination Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-semitism
Groups affected / Interested in: Ethnic minorities, National minorities Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Media, Political discourse -parties - orgs, Anti-discrimination Hate speech/Racist Discourse Medium: TV Media

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Victims Data
Victims Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Victims Gender N/A
Victims Age N/A
Victims Number N/A
Fatalities - deaths N/A
Perpetrators Data
Perpetrators Nationality/Ethnic Origin N/A
Perpetrator Gender N/A
Perpetrator Age N/A
Perpetrators Number N/A
Extremist/Organised Group Violence No

On March 5th, in a televised show, Romanian Senator Dan Şova, speaking of the Romanian Holocaust, assumed the view of a historian stating that: “on the Romanian territory no Jew has had to suffer and this is due to Antonescu”. He also stated that “historical data show that in Iaşi, 24 citizens of Jewish origin were killed by soldiers from the German army, unfortunately” and that in the Iaşi massacre Romanians have not participated. [1]

The “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania reacted, expressing their indignation as to the negationist messages of the Senator, considering that such statements:

“represent declarations which deny the Holocaust of the Jews in Romania and the responsibility of the government of the criminal Ion Antonescu for the murder of over 250,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews (…) This is all the more serious since the Romanian government, in June 2011, has commemorated 70 years from the Iasi pogrom (…)[2].

The Senator stated in a press statement published on his blog that he regrets if his statements were wrongly understood in the sense that he would have denied the suffering of the Jewish people and the guilt of Romanian authorities; that the anti-Jewish policies of the Antonescu regime, and the Iasi Pogrom cannot be denied by anyone; but that: “What I have tried to underline in the show was that Romanians did not want these things, but the unfortunate historical events and the Nazi policy were those which determined these events.”[3]

NGOs also reacted [4], and Romani CRISS and the Center for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism filed a criminal complaint against the Senator [5] for the breach of Government Emergency Ordinance 31/2002 on the prohibition of organizations and symbols with a fascist, racist, or xenophobic character and the promotion of the cult of persons guilty of crime against peace and humanity, considering that the statements made were explicit and that the apology should have reflected regret for what he has said and not for having been wrongly interpreted or understood.

Furthermore, five months later, the current PM, leader of his party, Mr. Victor Ponta, appointed Mr. Sova Minister in his cabinet. The Jewish Community protested, but to no avail so far. [6]

Sources:

  1. Victor Cozmei, “Institutul Naţional pentru Studierea Holocaustului: Senatorul PSD Dan Şova face afirmaţii care neagă Holocaustul evreilor din România” [“The National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust: the SDP Senator Dan Şova makes assertions which deny the Holocaust of the Jews from Romania”] in Hotnews, 06.03.2012, available at:  06.03.2012, disponibil la: http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-esential-11679974-video-institutul-national-pentru-studierea-holocaustului-senatorul-psd-dan-sova-face-afirmatii-care-neaga-holocaustul-evreilor-din-romania.htm (18.07.2012) - also contains the recording of the assertions quoted
  2. “Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of Holocaust in Romania, Press release, Dan Şova neagă Holocaustul [Dan Şova denies the Holocaust], 06.03.2012, available at: http://www.inshr-ew.ro/media/anunturi/comunicat-de-presa-dan-sova-neaga-holocaustul (accessed at: 17.07.2012)
  3. Dan Şova Blog, Declaraţie de presă [Press statement], 06.03.2012, available at: http://blog.dansova.ro/?m=20120306 (accessed at 17.07.2012)
  4. Center for Legal Resources, CLR condemns the negationist statements of SDP senator Dan Şova, 07.03.2012, available at: http://www.crj.ro/EN/News/CLR-condemns-the-negationist-statements-of-SDP-Senator-Dan-Sova/ (accessed at: 17.07.2012)
  5. Romani CRISS and the Center for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania, Press release, Plângere penală împotriva senatorului Dan Şova pentru negarea Holocaustului [Criminal complaint against the Senator Dan Şova for the denial of the Holocaust], 07.03.2012, available at: http://www.romanicriss.org/PDF/comunicat%20de%20presa%20plangere%20penala%20sova%20final%20%283%29.pdf (17.07.2012)
  6. AFP & EJP, “Romanian Jews ‘in mourning’ after revisionist senator is appointed as parliamentary minister”, in European Jewish Press, 08.08.2012, available at: http://www.ejpress.org/article/60859 (accessed at: 29.08.2012)
  7. See also International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, Final Report, Iaşi, Polirom, 2004. At pp. 120-126, one can find a description of the Iaşi pogrom where thousands of Jews were killed at the hands of Romanian authorities, assisted by German army units, available at: http://www.inshr-ew.ro/en/wiesel-report (accessed at: 17.07.2012)