Although 75 years have passed since Soviet troops liberated the biggest Nazi
\nextermination camp in southern Poland, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the authorities are
\nstill trying to ascertain the identity of the over a million victims. Dubbed
\nthe most sinister death factory, the camp was originally designed in 1940 to deal
\nwith the enemies of Adolf Hitler’s regime, whether real or fabricated. In the
\nsummer of 1944, the camp spread over 40 square kilometers. Overall, six million
\nJews died in the Second World War, fallen victims to Germany and its
\nsatellites. A few hundreds of thousands of them were born in Romania. Some of
\nthese were deported to Transdniestr by Marshal Ion Antonescu, a close ally of
\nNazi Germany. Others were sent straight to the Nazi extermination camps by the
\nHungarian fascist regime, occupying northwestern Transylvania. Attending
\nofficial ceremonies in Auschwitz on Monday, also marking the International
\nHolocaust Remembrance Day, Romania’s Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that, as
\na member of the EU, Romania promotes tolerance among people, non-discrimination
\nand peace, keeping an active stance in the process of preserving and consolidating the memory of the Holocaust. In Bucharest, President Klaus
\nIohannis, who last week attended the World Holocaust Forum in Israel, decorated
\nseveral Jewish and Roma Holocaust survivors. Klaus Iohannis:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The unspeakable horrors endured by
\nthe Roma community in our country in the concentration camps in Trandniestr are
\ninsufficiently known and mentioned. It is time we bring the Roma Holocaust to
\nthe public fore and honor the survivors, each of whom speaks of the power of
\nhumanity over racism and xenophobia. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The President of the Federation of
\nJewish Communities in Romania, Aurel Vainer, argued the decorations are
\nevidence of Romania’s aggressive stance against anti-Semitism. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This decoration holds great
\nhistorical significance, not just emotional, it confirms that in present-day
\nRomania, we, Jews, are enjoying every right and obligation bestowed on us. It
\nis a model of behavior towards Jews and an exemplary aggressive attitude
\nagainst anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Constantin Braila, a Roma Holocaust
\nsurvivor, was deported to Transdniestr in 1942. He recalled all the suffering
\nhe experienced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We slept on the floors, we hadno
\nsort of bedding. We slept on corn cobs. Our food rations amounted to 250g a
\nday, and it wasn’t vegetables, but barley flour. We worked day and night, in
\nthree shifts. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Other institutions that played a
\nmajor role in preserving the memory of the Holocaust, as well as people who
\nsurvived this tragic chapter in history, were also decorated.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu) <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Poland hosted the official ceremony marking 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":84448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[39867,39869,28945,30168,39868],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-84447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-auschwitz-birkeanu","tag-holocaust-survivors","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-ludovic-orban","tag-nazi-concentration-camps"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n