REPORT ’s entangled traumatic pasts Travelling Seminar · (13-14 March 2019)

Authors: Vladimir Costea, Delia Cocora, Alice Chempf, Irina Baciu, Monica Tache, Letitia Roman, Robert Ticalau. Department of Political Science, University of Bucharest

Introduction The two-day program focused on the official and vernacular memories of the Holocaust and the communist past in Romania. It consisted in a series of talks and guided visits to some of the most emblematic places of commemoration and memorialization in Bucharest and . It was organized by the EUROM in collaboration with the Assistant Professor, PhD Caterina Preda from the Department of Political Sciences of the University of Bucharest and included the participation of master students and experts from the University of Bucharest and the University of Barcelona.

Romania became a member of the European Union in 2007 after having experienced two totalitarianisms in the 20th century, an extreme-right wing regime (1938-1944) and a communist regime (1948-1989). Their shadows still cover the post-1990 Romanian political and memorial landscape. While the Romanian state has addressed the traumatic past through such initiatives as the Wiesel Report (2004) and the Tismăneanu Commission (2006), which documented the Romanian Holocaust and respectively condemned the “criminal communist dictatorship”, Romanian society has been less adamant to share this official condemnation. This travelling seminar introduced students and scholars to the memory of the Holocaust in Romania and its traces, as well as to the memorialization of the communist past, both at the official level, and in what concerns memory sites. Participants visited some of the most emblematic sites, such as the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest, the Jilava memorial, “80 east” (a communist apartment), and also joined a walking tour on totalitarianism in downtown Bucharest.

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13 March 2019 „The Culture, Science, Media section of the Federation of Jewish Communities in memory of the Holocaust in Romania. Romania” Adrian Cioflâncă presented his The first day of the travelling “Traces of (In)humanity in Holocaust seminar was divided in two parts : the Related Killing Sites in Romania and first part of the day was focused on the Moldova” which highlighted the extent memory of the Holocaust, while the of the atrocities that took place in second part on the communist past in Romania and Moldova through the so- Romania. called massacres against the Jews and the attempt to show the importance of Traces of (In) humanity in commemorative monuments, mass Holocaust Related Killing Sites in graves and unmarked killing sites of the Romania and Moldova” Jews. He discussed several case studies of mass perpetrated crimes on Adrian CIOFLÂNCĂ, the Romanian territory during the Director of The Center for the Study Holocaust like: the Iaşi Pogrom (June- of the History of the Jews in Romania July 1941); the Masssacre in Stânca Roznovanu (June 1941); the Massacre in the Vulturi Forest (June 1941); The Massacre in Gura Căinari- Mărculeşti (July 1941). In the first instance, Adrian Cioflâncă stressed the historical context of the beginning of Holocaust in Romania. In this regard, Romania took part in the Holocaust by bullets and “representatives of authorities, former members and civilians, sometimes assisted by The first part of the seminar German officers and soldiers, took place at the Center for the Study started to kill Jews in north- of the History of the Jews in Romania eastern Romania, Bessarabia and (CSIER). Founded in 1977, The Center Northern Bukovina”. He continued for the Study of the History of the Jews with the most representatives in Romania - Centrul pentru Studiul massacres. The Iaşi Pogrom was Istoriei Evreilor din România- perpetrated in 29 of June 1941 by (CSIER) is a structure of scientific officiers from the General Staff and research, documentation and archival disbanded soldiers, policemen, public preservation and operates within the guardians, gendarmes, agents of secret

2 servicies, civilians and 14.000 Jews, mostly men, were killed. Concerning commemorative monuments in Iaşi, we can find a monument in the memory of the victims of the Iaşi Pogrom which was built in 1976 during communism. Also, in 2000, the Canadian film director Simcha Jacobovici illegally installed a plaque on the building of the former Police Headquarter in Iaşi and it remained there till 2011. The presentation of Felicia Waldman Adrian Cioflâncă highlighted the highlighted the subject of fact that two monuments were “Memorialization of the Holocaust in erected in 2010, by Jewish postcommunist Romania”, especially in organizations, in the memory of the visual arts field. Her presentation the Jews killed in Sculeni and discussed the very close relationship Stânca Roznovanu. Another massacre established between the social-political was in Mărculeşti- Gura Căinari (July reality presented by Adrian Cioflâncă 1941) where the Jewish population of and the subsequent artistic Mărculeşti (The Republic of Moldova) representations that demonstrate the was evacuated and killed near Gura impact that some past events have on Căinari. the artistic achievements of a country or even at the European and Memorialization of the international level. Her presentation Holocaust in postcommunist started with some Romanian Romania documentaries, such as Struma (Radu Gabrea and Stelian Tănase, 2001), Holocaust under the Antonescu Felicia WALDMAN, Government (Cristian Hadji-Culea, Assistant Professor of Modern 2009) and the most recent, The Dead Hebrew and Jewish thought at the Nation, produced by Radu Jude in Faculty of Letters, University of 2017. The last one presents the rising Bucharest of the anti-Semitism policy and eventually a harrowing depiction of the Romanian Holocaust, a topic which is not very talked about in the contemporary Romanian society. About the Roma victims, there are several documentaries, such as Hidden Sorrows: The persecution of Romanian Gypsies during World War II (Michelle Kelso, 2005), Valley of Sighs (Mihai Leaha, Iulia Hossu and Andrei Crișan,

3 2013) or The exile from Bessarabia The Holocaust Memorial (Sergiu Ene, 2013). Theatre also deals with the Holocaust as is the case of The kings’ game (Pavel Kohout), Born for never (AndrasVisky) or At your service, Fuhrer (Mihai Maniutiu). Concerning the educational theatre, inter@FACE 3 is an experimental show combining avant-garde musical composition, technological innovation and documentary theatre. Shoah – The Survival is a multimedia interactive sound installation-performance about Our seminar continued with a survival, inspired by the events that visit at the Holocaust Memorial in occur in Transylvania during the Bucharest. We found out that The Holocaust and by the survivor Memorial of Holocaust Victims in testimonies. Bucharest 41 – Round trip Romania was inaugurated on 8 October is a 4 hour travelling show which starts 2009 and the marking of this day was at the State Jewish Theatre and established by law in 2004 with the continues to the Great Synagogue, the foundation of the National Institute for Hammer Vocational School and the Holocaust Studies “Elie Wiesel” and the Jilava Forest. Along the way the approval of the law punishing the anti- spectators are accompanied by a guide Semitism. The building of the Memorial who explains what happened in was initiated in 2005 by the Ministry of Bucharest in 1941. Culture following the Felicia Waldman’s presentation recommendations of the International also introduced a series of museums in Commission of the Study of the Romania which emphasize the Holocaust in Romania (Wiesel traumatic heritage of the Holocaust: Commission) as an expression of the The Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest, duty to recognize and assume the The Elie Wiesel Memorial House and crimes committed during the Second Maramureș Jewish Culture Museum or World War against the Jewish and the memorial plaques in different Roma community. We could see on an departments of the country. area of nearly 3,000 meters the Central Memorial and the five sculptures: the Memorial Column, Via Dolorosa, the Roma Wheel, David’s Star and the Epitaph.

4 Theater, the group had the chance to learn more about Romania’s traumatic pasts. Mihai Burcea highlighted the meaning of buildings for the communist regime and for the Revolution. One of the most important points was the Square of Revolution, where he explained the meaning of December ‘89 for the Romanian democratic future. Moreover, he presented how Ceausescu managed to escape from the former Central Committee of the but was afterwards caught and executed together with his wife.

Visit of the 80 east – the communist apartment, with the participation of Alexandra Bârdan (University of Bucharest) Totalitarianism tour, a walking tour in downtown Bucharest

After the walking tour of The day continued with a walk Bucharest, the group visited “80 east in the centre of Bucharest where the communist apartment” (a civic group discovered where the Secret initiative of the NGO “Funky Citizens”) Police Service had its headquarters. with the participation of Alexandra Being accompanied by the historian Bârdan. The purpose of the apartment Mihai Burcea who described every is to be the setting for a lesson of historical building or monument such human rights for pupils in order to as the Police headquarters, Cercul contrast the narrative of the discussion Militar National, the former National with the communist decorations, which

5 remind of the communist dictatorial 14 March 2019 regime. Two representatives from Funky Citizens explained to us the “Memorialization and meaning of each room and the meaning of the objects. The apartment dealing with the communist tried to replicate a classic communist flat for a family because it presents the past” at the Institute of living room, a child’s bedroom and the Political Research, University parents’ bedroom. The tour of the house encapsulated the daily life of of Bucharest people in Romania during communism.

The Communist Dictatorship in Romania: Coercion, Consent and Dissent

Cristina PETRESCU Professor at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Political Science

Furthermore, at the end of the tours, Alexandra Bârdan joined the discussion and explained the feeling of nostalgia for communism in Romania nowadays. She remarked that in Romania there is no real nostalgia for the past in terms of wanting back the communist regime. Not only did she highlight the fact that do not want the regime back, but she also advanced the idea that this feeling of The second day of seminar nostalgia is manifested mainly for the started with Prof. Cristina Petrescu’s objects. In addition, she underlined the presentation, which highlighted the aim of the apartment is for young particularities of the Communist people to remember and to get to Regime through the use of powerful know the communist regime. pictures. The main features of the Communist regime were perfectly summarized by the syntagma “One party, one leader, one ideology”, illustrated through two distinct communist leaders in Romania -

6 Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej (1945-1965) impossible to afford the fuel. and Nicolae Ceausescu (1965- 1989). In terms of the coercive dimension of the regime, Cristina Petrescu pointed to the existence of the Sighet Memorial the former prison where the Romanian elites were brutally exterminated in the first years of communism in Romania.

In order to create a holistic In regards to the implementation of image, the professor described briefly Communism in Romania, professor the famous case of Herta Müller, a Cristina Petrescu stressed the idea that recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in although ideologically the Romanian Literature noted for her works society was classless (from a socio- depicting the effects of violence, economic and cultural point of view), cruelty and terror, usually in the setting equality was inexistent in front of the of the Socialist Republic of Romania law. From a legal perspective, Petrescu under the repressive Nicolae explains, Nomenklatura (administrative Ceaușescu regime, which she has and bureaucratic elites) and the New experienced herself. Class were privileged. For a better understanding of the She furthered her argument by practices of communist leaders, accurately describing how the centrally professor Cristina Petrescu explained planned economy lead to a lack of how the leaders appealed to the goods for the broader society, which masses through compulsory forced people to wait in cues for demonstration or mass rallies in which products that wouldn’t even be the citizens were forced to acclaim the available for the population, such as leaders for several hours in public diary products, fresh meat or even places. Adding details to this elaborate bread. Although during the Communist picture, Cristina Petrescu re-enforces Regime in Romania the Dacia cars were the concept of Public Obedience produced on a large scale, the citizens attained by the regime through could hardly acquire a car due to a lack compulsory membership in Party- of money or even if they eventually got the car, she explains, it was almost

7 controlled organizations or compulsory “Public Exposure without “voluntary” work. Lustration: Dealing with the The Professor also shares the way Secret Police Files in Post- in which the population was able to escape the monopoly on information communism” held by the Communist Party through western literature, music or films that Dragoș PETRESCU illegally made it into the country. Professor at the University of The discussion ended with Bucharest, professor Cristina Petrescu stressing Faculty of Political Science the means of remembering Communism, by showing pictures of films realized on the topic such as I’m an old communist hag (Stere Gulea, 2013) in which a specific Communist family gathering in a typical communist house is shown. In this vein, she concluded by emphasizing the importance of remembering and keeping the image of a society crippled by the Communist Regime alive, in order for the Romanian society not to experience the same historical path. The second presentation was that of Prof. Dragos Petrescu, who began his presentation with the 2008 decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court, which ruled law 187/1999 as unconstitutional, contextualising the crisis of the post- communist process of dealing with the files of the secret political police, known as the Securitate. He highlighted the relevance of the government’s response, which

assumed responsibility and assured the continuation of the process He introduced the syntagma

“informal lustration”, defining it as a process that encourages both moral and institutional changes, as a side effect of the access to the secret files, the systematic public exposure of the wrongdoings of the communist regime

8 and moral condemnation of the act of solved, specifically the status of CNSAS providing the secret police with as a parallel judicial structure. He noted information on fellow citizens. the two Emergency Governmental In the first part of the Ordinances issued in February and presentation, Dragoș Petrescu March 2008. He explained the change addressed the legal framework, from brought by the new legislation, under the passing of the Law 187 in which CNSAS was assigned exclusively December 1999, and the establishment the role of prosecutor and underlined of the National Council for the Study of the improvement in transparency the Securitate Archives (CNSAS), until gained under the new law. 2008. He highlighted the inspiration In the last part of the drawn from the German model of presentation, professor Petrescu dealing with the documents of the addressed the failure to adopt a Stasi, explaining its influence in Eastern lustration law in 2005-2010. He Europe. He analysed the role of former contextualized the debates following political prisoners, who formed the the presidential elections of 2004. He Association of Former Political added that in 2005, a group of Prisoners in Romania, which played a members of Parliament belonging to pivotal role in the promotion of the National Liberal Party formulated a reparations for everybody who was bill meant to limit the access to public politically persecuted under office of persons who held positions in communism. He underlined the the power structures of the communist importance of Law 187, passed in 1999, regime. The project was voted by the law which allowed citizens to read their Senate in 2006 and by the Chamber of Securitate files and the creation of Deputies in 2010, but was not enforced CNSAS, a necessary institution in the since the Constitutional Court found it administration of secret files. Petrescu unconstitutional. Professor Petrescu addressed the transfer of the highlighted how this decision ended in Securitate files, an ardent problem an abrupt manner the ongoing debates during 2000-2005, and the following on this subject. improvements of the 2006-2008 Dragos Petrescu’s presentation period. has been extremely valuable for In the second part of the understanding both the mechanisms presentation, professor Petrescu behind the CNSAS and its relevance for introduced a second period of the broader society nowadays. He reference for the CNSAS, starting from stressed the idea that many young 2008, with the decision of the adults are curious about finding either Constitutional Court upon the if there had been an association unconstitutionality of Law 187/1999. between their relatives and the He underlined that even though this Securitate or acknowledging the decision was seen as an attempt of the abuses made by the Secret police. He Neo-communist forces to stop a dynamically responded to several promising process, there was a questions from the public such as if the systemic issue that needed to be archives are available to everyone

9 under no special conditions - to which political legitimacy has had especially he responded positively or if there is a for the post-communist states as social stigma for youngsters who had in Romania, given the contradiction their family relatives who worked hand between the continuity of the in hand with the Securitate, to which Romanian state and the effects of the he responded that there is no stigma in 1989 revolution. Gussi explained that the society for the second generations, the legitimacy of the state was a high as they are not responsible for past priority for the Romanian politicians, actions. mostly of them part of the former communist nomenklatura, especially at the beginning of the Romanian “The politics of forgetting and democracy, despite the fact that the the politicization of memory of violent regime change that occurred in the communist past after December 1989 , hindered the political, December 1989” social and economic development of Romania. Alexandru GUSSI He then focused his attention on Professor at the University of describing the present Romanian Bucharest, political regime, the attitudes of the Faculty of Political Science politicians regarding the crimes committed by the communist regime (oblivion, denial, and irresponsibility) as well as evaluating two periods of time, 2006-2012-the most active in transitional justice and the other 2012- 2016-one in which the communist past has been ignored. According to Gussi, this evaluation revealed four fundamental aspects. First of all, the transitional justice issues present in almost all state institutions were abolished. The process of de- communization was not accomplished, The last presentation of the and in addition the responsibility for second day of our Travelling Seminar becoming accustomed to the past is “Romania’s Entangled Traumatic Pasts” recognized only for memory entitled “The politics of forgetting and institutions. Secondly, the executive the politicization of memory of the branch regained control over the communist past after December 1989” discourse about the past, and many was made by Alexandu Gussi, Professor pro-transitional justice civil society at the University of Bucharest, Faculty representatives and academics became of Political Science. members of the CNSAS and other Alexandru Gussi started by institutions. Third, the anticommunist highlighting the importance that camp was torn apart regarding the

10 concerns about the communist past rather than the activity of memory institution, especially their independence from the political parties. These new concerns overshadowed the debate on the past, affected the credibility of the transitional justice supporters, and weakened the public influence of the anticommunists. Fourth, the author revealed the way that, some memory Together with Cristian Mihai institutions, especially after 2012, lost Velicea, chief commissar at the Jilava relevance for the general public, the Prison, we explored the specific history mass-media. and location of Fort no. 13 Jilava, Last but not the least, Alexandru where interwar historical, political, and Gussi talked about the evolution of the cultural personalities were tortured. Romanian party system after the end The Jilava Fort 13’ initially of the communist regime and the role purpose was to defend the city of that the creation of the memory Bucharest, but after 1907 it was used institutions has had for the Romanian as a prison (one of the worst in society. He also underlined that the Romania). Jilava was the location of a unconsolidated Romanian democratic fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as regime, the fragility of the new parties part of the capital’s defense system. which do not have a well-defined After 1907, the fort was converted into ideological as well as political platform, a prison. The rooms here tell very and the lack of civil society are all traumatic and sad stories about responsible for the absence of the prisoners who were deprived of food, transitional justice policies in our rest and dignity. It is now a historical country. Finally, professor Gussi monument. stressed the idea that in order to This prison is the site where, on succeed, the transitional justice November 26-27, 1940, the Iron Guard process needs the support of the most authorities of the National Legionary important Romanian politicians State killed 64 political prisoners as capable of developing transitional revenge for the previous killing of their justice programs as soon as possible, leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu; it was that one may change the country’s also here that , dictator position regarding its communist past. of Romania during World War II, was

executed for war crimes in 1946. The Visit of the Jilava Memorial prison was also a detention site for

political prisoners after the start of Communist rule in Romania. Between 1948 and 1964, Jilava executed prison sentences of common

11 law, men and women under trial or decommissioned, and some of the convicted, detainees investigated or detainees, the majority of the common convicted of „crimes against security” law, were transferred to the new (members of historical parties, prison building. legionaries, spies, “War criminals” and members of the “anti-Communist The Soviet cemetery subversive organizations”). The The last part of the travelling detention regime in Jilava was one of seminar “Romania’s entangled extermination of political prisoners. traumatic pasts” was dedicated to the The constants of this regime were the reflection on the memory of the beating, torture and starvation of those communist past, referring to the imprisoned, as well as insufficient striking image of the monument of the medical assistance to the medical Soviet heroes, the work of the sculptor problems of detainees. In this area of Constantin Baraschi. imprisonment were kept those waiting The monument for a trial, but also detainees from the was inaugurated in other penitentiaries either for an 1946, with a ceremony investigation supplement or for attended by King transfer to another place of detention. Michael I, Generally, the period in which a - President of the detainee remained in Jilava was for Council of Ministers, several months. Because of the large General Mayor of number of inmates who went through General Victor Fort 13, Jilava was the only source of Dombrowski, General Ivan Susaikov information for detainees about the and other Romanian and Soviet world around them. officials.

For the political prisoners, the only right specified by the detention and security rules of the detainees was that of the walk, but this was not always respected. After 1970, following the change of the detention sites, On a 12 m marble obelisk on some of the Fort 13 cells were which a 3 m bronze statue used to

12 stand to honor Soviet soldiers, the monument of the Soviet soldier was placed in Victory Square until the 1980s when it was moved on the Kiseleff Boulevard and after 1989 was removed. Today, the monument is in the Soviet Cemetery in the Pipera neighborhood of northern Bucharest. The memorial complex to the Soviet soldiers was created in 1947 and is the largest Soviet military cemetery in Romania. Here are buried the remains of more than 600 people. In total, on the territory of Romania in World War II, about 65,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and buried.

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