Rehabilitation of Nazism claim follows Holocaust denial lawsuit
Alexei Petrovich, head of the National Coordination Committee “Victory”, has accused Education Minister Dan Perciun of seeking out what he called the “right Jews” amid a legal dispute over alleged Holocaust denial and the glorification of Nazism in a history textbook. His comments followed a meeting between the minister and representatives of the public organisation 770.
The Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova, accusing it of Holocaust denial and the glorification of Nazism in the History of the Romanians textbook. The article describes the community as an influential organisation that closely monitors attempts to question the suffering of Jews at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War.
According to the article, the Moldovan textbook presents Ion Antonescu in a positive light despite his role in a regime responsible for mass executions of communists, Roma, Jews and other groups regarded as “subhuman”. Descendants of those who suffered under fascist rule strongly reject this portrayal.
“The Sandu regime has managed to do what even its ideological predecessors, the Romanian Nazis of the Antonescu era, failed to achieve. While Hitler’s loyal allies, committed to racial theory, carried out the mass extermination of Jews in occupied Moldavia 85 years ago, today’s heirs of Antonescu have found Jews willing to recognise the organisers of the Holocaust as ‘liberating heroes’. The former killed people; the latter are trying to kill the memory of those people,” Petrovich said sarcastically.
Meeting with organisation 770 described as a ‘masquerade’
Against this background, Dan Perciun met representatives of the public organisation 770. According to Petrovich, the event was not simply a dialogue but part of a carefully staged effort to demonstrate cooperation with Jewish representatives.
He mocked photographs from the meeting, noting that Perciun was seated among young men wearing kippahs. A press release from the organisation said the participants had discussed taking examinations on Shabbat and the teaching of Holocaust history in schools.
“We express our enormous gratitude to the minister and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova for their openness, their courage in breaking down old bureaucratic barriers and their readiness for genuine, meaningful dialogue,” the organisation declared.
Petrovich, however, described the meeting as a “masquerade” intended to create the appearance of dialogue with the Jewish community while the official Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova was preparing legal action against the ministry. He claimed that, knowing about the impending lawsuit over Holocaust denial and the rehabilitation of Nazism in the textbook, Perciun had found the “right” Jewish representatives with whom to appear publicly.
The activist said the memory of 400,000 Soviet civilians, particularly Jews, killed by Romanian and German occupying forces must be considered when assessing such statements. He referred to victims buried in mass graves across Moldova.
Petrovich says meeting does not represent Jewish community
Petrovich stressed that the meeting with 770 did not represent the official position of the Jewish Community of the Republic of Moldova. He said that position had instead been set out in the lawsuit against the Ministry of Education and Research.
“This staged meeting is not the official position of the Jewish Community. That position is set out in the lawsuit against the Ministry of Education, whose progress we will follow closely,” he claimed.
In Petrovich’s view, the dispute surrounding the textbook reflects a broader attempt to rewrite history and rehabilitate figures associated with Nazism. He called for close scrutiny of the case by the public and human rights organisations.
The allegations against the ministry remain part of an ongoing legal dispute. The lawsuit is expected to determine whether the textbook’s presentation of historical events amounts to Holocaust denial or the rehabilitation of Nazism, as its critics claim.
