The National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust (''Ziua Naţională de Comemorare a Holocaustului'' in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

) is a national event held on October 9 in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is dedicated to the remembrance of the victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and particularly to reflecting on Romania's role in the Holocaust. Various commemoration events and ceremonies take place throughout Romania in order to remember the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

who died in the Holocaust. The first National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust was held in 2004.Romanians lack remorse over Holocaust role-president
Reuters, October 9, 2006 October 9 was chosen as a date for this event because it marks the beginning of Romanian deportations of Jews to

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

, in 1941. On October 9, 2005, the Romanian Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (; born 22 September 1968) is a Romanian historian, politician and former Prime Minister of Romania. He was the foreign minister of Romania from 28 December 2004 to 12 March 2007, and he was appointed as Director of the F ...

, participated in the laying of a wreath at the Holocaust Memorial in Iaşi. The Centre for Hebrew Studies, part of the

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

, was also inaugurated on the same day by Ungureanu. During the inaugural National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust, the

Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania The Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania, ''Institutul Naţional pentru Studierea Holocaustului din România „Elie Wiesel”'' in Romanian) is a public institution established by the Romanian government on August ...

was also opened. On October 9, 2006, a ceremony took place for setting the keystone of the National Holocaust Memorial in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. The ceremony was attended by President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

, Foreign Minister Affairs Minister Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu, as well as representatives of the Romanian and international Jewish community.Comemorarea Zilei Holocaustului din România
("The commemoration of Holocaust Day in Romania"), Ministry of Culture of Romania, October 9, 2005 A commemoration march also took place through Bucharest in order to remember the Romani victims of the Holocaust and to demand greater recognition by the government of Romani Holocaust victims.

References

{{Romanian Roma topics Holocaust commemoration The Holocaust in Romania October observances Annual events in Romania 2004 establishments in Romania Recurring events established in 2004 Autumn events in Romania

See also

References