´I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians´

Memory is such a trickster. It plays with people, let people play with her in a seduction trechearous game of cat-and-mouse, set unfair from the very beginning. In the end, it wins and its price is to gulp its victims which are always the same. Maybe truth in history does not exist, but the manipulation of historical memories, made by states on their own saving purposes´ does.

The title of my blog is a real quote by a Romanian official during WWII, mentioned in official documents of the time. Archives, those depository of truths, everyone´s truth. It refers to events that took place during WWII, during which the Romanian Army occupied Odessa and murdered ten of thousands of Jews. The fact is largely obliterated from the Romanian public memory, particularly from the school books. As the person who ordered the murder, Ion Antonescu, remains a highly praised historical figure, especially among the establishment of all colours, old school that trained the green conscripts, it´s not too much discussed about this episode. The report regarding Romania´s involvement in the WWII atrocities, elaborated by a commission inspired and supported by Elie Wiesel - who was the target of all kind of attacks for this involvement - outlines the ways in which the country mistreated its own Jewish population, but it did not create a moment of moral awakening. The mud of oblivion still entrenches the approach of Shoah in Romania.

Radu Jude is one of the most talented and thoughtful Romanian film directors. His films are a wide-opening encounter with stories no one wants to listen because they are a counter-story to the embelished national narrative. A narrative that we all know it does not clean up the authorities of corruption or bring better medical conditions, but it´s the lure of a beautiful past which mesmerized the impoverished and bureaucracy-harassed bellies. 

A young film director, Mariana who confessed at the beginning of being Christian-Orthodox and baptised - just to be sure that she will not be accused of belonging to the ´treasonous party´ - wants to create a public event for raising awareness about those events. As the production is supported with public money, she has to discuss the details of the plays with a representative of the funding authorities, a nice gentleman that insists that there are so many other massacres and unhappy events that happened in the world. After all, he said, this Antonescu saved the Jews from the rest of Romania, isn´t it? With Mariana to answer that it was the same that instead of killing 10 people in the room, one just killed five and ´saved´ the other five. On the other hand, the high bribes requested by local Romanian officials during the war from Jews to stay alive were all known at the time. Sure, they ´saved´ their Jews...

Or better she makes a play about the fate of national elites during the communism? What about that? And what about that Romanian Jew, Steinhard, that converted to Christianity, become a monk and wrote extensively about his happiness of not being a Jew anymore. (I ironically simplify things but in fact this kind of discourse used to be pretty common and I bet it still is when it comes to approaching the truth of the Romanians´ thinking on Jews).

The elaboration of the play is more than a reflection per se on the killing of Jews, but overviews the fabric of history and the precarious fate of those who are looking for the inconvenient truths. One mindblowing event featured in the movie is when during the ´enactement´, when the Jews are gathered in the center square to be killed, one tries to escape outside the artistic space but the spectators are not letting him go, but made a wall of bodies which forbid him to go out to his freedom. 

Radu Jude created several stories into the big story and there are many messages and plots to think about it, but the movie was such a great pleasure to watch because who will ever have enough of smart takes on complex histories? The fact that there are people, although just a few, who are shaking the lazy historical narratives gives hope. Always. 

Romanians and Holocaust denial

Some goods legal news from a country that I had the occasion to know quite well, specifically as a Jew: Romania has now a law punishing Holocaust denial and the promotion of new and old far right movement to up to 3 years. The same prison length can be assigned for the promotion of fascist, racist or xenophobic symbols and for the promotion of people guilty of crimes against humanity.

When we place Romania - where over 200,000 Jews (the correct number is still subject of debate) were killed during WWII - in the context of other countries from the area, such as Hungary, many zealous nationalists will run to outline how generous and welcoming (hospitality being part of the positive repertoire of descriptions the locals like to be associated with) where the Romanians with their fellow Jews. Indeed, there are no far-right parties in power - although shortly after the fall of communism, most parties in power accepted to get some pints of nationalist - often with anti-Semitic accents - infusions in what they called their political programmes and there are not registered frequent incidents directed against minorities. Jews were able to escape from the Northern or Eastern part to Bucharest during the war - in exchange of a heavy price paid to the authorities, and during the years of exacerbated nationalism of Ceaucescu, they were also allowed to make aliyah, in exchange of increasing amount of money paid by the State of Israel. As for the humiliation and suffering those accepted to leave the country went through, maybe on another occasion.

Anti-semitism is often promoted officially through the writings and cultural references promoted by the predominant Orthodox Church and its representatives. Many of them are openly supporting the Legionnaire Movement, a populist nationalist anti-Semitic movement in vogue in the 1920s in Romania and frequently embraced by many notorious local intellectuals. Will anyone dare to indict to prison representatives of this church whose favours are always asked by politicians of all colours?

The intellectual resources of the Legionnaires were part of the daily post-communist intellectual references. Although not openly assumed, the roots and system of values were there, part of a larger effort to reconnect the present to an illusory past. Children were encouraged to read the 'forbidden' authors without a critical apparatus, very often ending up believing the values preached. Which values were very often imbued with anti-Semitism and racism.

It is a lot to be said about the nationalist values of the Romanian 'elites', especially among state representatives, academic establishment and various notorious institutions. Will this law punish severly any of them? When I will read about the first such indictment, I will realy feel that justice is made for those killed physically and also for those that for years suffered the nationalist harassment for years. Let's hope for the good!