''Săptămîna'' (''The Week'' in Romanian) was a newspaper published in the
Socialist Republic of Romania
The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...
focusing on
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
's cultural scene. During the 1980s, the leading editors were
Eugen Barbu and
Corneliu Vadim Tudor and the newspaper had very strong pro-
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...
and
National Communist views and it attacked and slandered
detractors of Ceaușescu, both those living in Romania and those living in the exile.
Ideology
Following the speeches of the 1971
July Theses, through which Ceaușescu imposed a new ideology, Eugen Barbu, a writer seeing a waning influence, took the opportunity to be the greatest supporter of this new ideology of
protochronism.
[Deletant, p. 186]
Antisemitism
In a September 5, 1980 article entitled "Ideals",
Corneliu Vadim Tudor presented the first anti-semitic view published in Romania after World War II.
[ The article attacked the Jews, who, in contrast to the loyal Romanians were "running away in the face of hardships" (referring to ]Aliyah
''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
).[Deletant, p. 191] The Jews were seen as "visitors", "avid for enrichment", "Herod's strangers to the interests of this nation" and who lacked the Romanian notion of self-sacrifice.[ Chief Rabbi of Romania, Moses Rosen protested by writing a letter to the newspaper and on October 24, a retraction was published, arguing that the newspaper did not support such extreme views.][Deletant, p. 192]
The debate over the issue continued as a brochure
A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...
began to circulate in Romania, containing the ''Săptămîna'' editorial, as well as Rabbi Rosen's protest under the title "Chief Rabbi Trafficker Patriot". While protests over the issue were voiced from Israel and other external Jewish circles, the official response was that they were printed abroad and shipped by Romanian-Italian businessman Iosif Constantin Drăgan, who was alleged to have some links to ''Săptămîna''.[ In April 1981, Ceaușescu had to condemn anti-semitism in a speech. Nevertheless, it is alleged that the whole antisemitic incident was sparked by Ceaușescu's anger over the ]Jewish lobby
The Jewish lobby are individuals and groups predominantly in the Jewish diaspora that advocate for the interests of Jews and Jewish values. The lobby references the involvement and influence of Jews in politics and the political process, and ...
which tried to tie the US Most favoured nation
In international economic relations and international politics, most favoured nation (MFN) is a status or level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. The term means the country which is the recipient of this treatme ...
clause to the freedom to emigrate to Israel, something which was misunderstood by the sycophants at ''Săptămîna''.[
]
Conflict with the Writers' Union
On September 18, 1980, the national communist group from ''Săptămîna'' addressed Ceaușescu demanding the disbanding of the Writers' Union of Romania
The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by takin ...
which they argued that it was "sold to the West" and "reactionary" and create a new Communist Writers' Union.[Burakovski, p. 261] Ceaușescu realized that this was a fringe view among the writers and disagreed with this solution.[
On October 13, Ceaușescu discussed with a group of a hundred writers from the Writers' Union, who demanded that the activity of the ''Săptămîna'' newspaper to be reproached and the reduction of the ideological pressures over the writers.][ While Ceaușescu agreed in principle, he was just postponing taking an action, which was taken after the 1981 Conference of the Writers' Union of Romania.][
]
Attacks on dissidents
''Săptămîna'' had a habit of slandering all Romanian dissidents (both within and outside the country) or even people who they didn't see as patriotic enough. For instance, Eugen Barbu called Paul Goma "a nullity" on April 8, 1977.[Deletant, p. 241]
Legacy
After 1989, the two former editors of ''Săptămîna'', Eugen Barbu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor became associates in a newspaper called ''România Mare'', which exposed extreme nationalist views. A party was created to suit their view, Greater Romania Party,[Deletant, p. 400] which became the most important nationalist party in post-1989 Romanian history.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saptamina
Newspapers published in Bucharest
Romanian-language newspapers
Socialist newspapers published in Romania
Socialist Republic of Romania
History of Bucharest