Reflections on the Holocaust in Romania, Hungary, and Transylvania
Reflections on the Holocaust in Romania, Hungary, and Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: These reflections draw on decades of involvement with the history and politics of the Holocaust in Romania, Hungary, and Transylvania. Under communism, the Holocaust was a nearly taboo subject. This did not prevent the Romanians from drawing attention to certain crimes of the Horthy regime, nor did it prevent the publication in Hungary of some studies on the tragedy of the Hungarian Jews. But public awareness of the Holocaust was low. More serious confrontation with the Holocaust began following 1989, but reaffirmations of nationalism in the wake of Soviet domination led to tolerance for public manifestations of antisemitism and to an extended period of uncertainty in confronting the criminal records of the Horthy and Antonescu regimes. The Holocaust-related policies of Hungary and Romania were not “in synch” during the Holocaust or during communism and have remained “out of synch” through the entire post-communist period. This “out-of-synch-ness” and the broader animosity between the two countries, fatal for Jews during the Holocaust, continues to induce insecurity among Jews. In the early post-communist years, it made little difference who was in charge – communist regime holdovers in Romania or center-right and center-left governments in Hungary. Holocaust denial and distortion were the norm in both countries. Their respective paths diverged with the establishment of the Wiesel Commission, which put Romania on a path toward a more honest confrontation with the past. No analogous course correction has occurred in Hungary, with significant negative consequences for the country’s democracy, international standing, and relationship with the truth.

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