Moldova 2007

 

Anti-Jewish prejudices in Moldova are expressed mainly through Holocaust revisionism and Holocaust denial. Holocaust revisionism appears increasingly in the political mainstream, in the media and among some of the intelligentsia.

 

The Jewish Community

The Jewish population in Moldova ranges from 13,000 (2004 population census) to 30,000 (according to Jewish organizations), out of a population of approximately 4.3 million. Although the mixed marriage rate has always been high in the country, the Jews there have strong links to the Moldovan Jewish Diaspora in Israel and the US. The main Jewish organizations are the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Moldova and the Jewish Congress of Moldova. Others are the Union of Jewish Organizations of Chisinau, the Dor le-Dor charity foundation, the Society of War Veterans, the Khava women’s organization and the Association of Jews – Prisoners of Ghetto and Concentration Camps, as well as branches of the international student organization Hillel and the Maccabi movement.

About a dozen Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch communities operate in Moldova, headed by the chief rabbi of the country. An Agudat Israel yeshiva was opened in Chisinau in the early 1990s. There are also a Chabad-Lubavitch kindergarten, several Jewish schools and a Jewish pedagogic women’s college in Chisinau, as well as the Enlightenment University of Jewish Culture and a branch of the Open University of Israel. Two Jewish newspapers are published: Evreiiskoe Mestechko (Jewish shtetl) and Istoky (Roots).

 

political organizations and nationalist activity

No far right party with an antisemitic ideology is registered; however, some parties, such as the Christian Democratic Popular Party and the newly established Liberal Party and the National-Liberal Party, are known for their support of the nationalist cause and their acceptance of individuals with antisemitic views as members. Nationalist ideology in Moldova means, first and foremost, exclusion of minority traditions, including that of the Jews, and the integration of Moldova with Romania on the basis of ethnic ties. The forms of their nationalist and antisemitic expressions may be implicit or explicit. In 2007, Anatol Petrencu, generally regarded as the main protagonist of Holocaust revisionism in Moldova (see ASW 2005 and below), established a party named European Action Movement, which stands officially for pro-European integration. “European integration,” however, is apparently perceived by party leaders as the construction of a pan-Romanian identity, which is intended to prevail over minority narratives. The official newspaper of the Union of Writers, Literatura Si Arta (Literature and Art), has become the main platform for the expression of such views.

The nationalist parties, which try to present an image to the European community of a democratic opposition to the left-wing government, criticize the latter’s initiative to change the subject “the history of Romanians” taught in schools to “the history of Moldova,” covering also the history of World War II in Moldova. They have won some support from the official Transnistrian media, such as the English-language online magazine Tiraspoltimes. Transnistria, a self-proclaimed, non-recognized republic, mostly inhabited by Russian speakers, has become a meeting point for Ukrainian and Russian nationalists. Ironically, in their fierce opposition to the Moldovan government, they support the line of pan-Romanian nationalists in Moldova.

 

Attitudes toward World War II and the Holocaust

Anti-Jewish prejudices in Moldova are expressed mainly through Holocaust revisionism and Holocaust denial. In particular, the genocide against the Jews (and other groups) during the fascist Romanian occupation of Moldova (1941−44), as well as the responsibility of wartime dictator Ion Antonescu for the Holocaust on Romanian territory, is questioned or distorted. The phenomenon of Holocaust denial in Moldova is linked to a similar tendency in Romania and serves the specific political goal of reunification with Romania on the basis of ethnic and linguistic ties (see ASW 2005 and 2006).

Holocaust revisionism can be found increasingly in the political mainstream, in the media and among some of the intelligentsia, including members of the history department of the State University and the Moldovan Historians Association. The long-term cooperation of the chairman of the Moldovan Historians Association and State University professor Anatol Petrencu with infamous Romanian revisionist Ion Coja illustrates this trend.

Attempts to prevent teaching the Holocaust in schools and higher education institutions as part of the campaign to rehabilitate fascism and particularly the crimes of Ion Antonescu in Moldova and Transnistria, are tainted by antisemitism. For example, on June 29, the mainstream “independent” newspaper Jurnal de Chisinau, published an article manipulating two dates in the history of Moldova − June 28, 1940, when "the Soviets occupied Bessarabia," and June 22, 1941, when "Antonescu began liberating the territories." The article presents the views of Anatol Petrencu, stressing the role of Antonescu in the "liberation" of Moldova (Bessarabia) from the Soviets on the latter date. It also provides a forum for other protagonists of pan-Romanian ideology, such as Vitalia Pavlicenco of the National-Liberal Party, and Gheorge Susarenco, of the Christian-Democratic Popular Party, who discuss those two events in the context of the discourse over changing the history teaching curriculum.

In the summer of 2007 a discussion was initiated in the Moldovan mass media over renaming Octavian Goga Street, a central artery in Chisinau. Goga, a leading poet, was Romanian deputy prime minister in the late 1930s, the ideologist of antisemitism in Romania before World War II and founder of the fascist National-Christian Party. It was Goga who introduced antisemitic legislation to Romania in this period. The street, named after him in 1991, crosses the territory of the former Jewish ghetto in Chisinau. Representatives of Jewish and other minority rights organizations, including the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, publicly supported the initiative to rename the street. Many right-wing politicians, including former Mayor of Chisinau, now MP and parliamentary leader of the Alliance for Democracy faction Serafim Urechian, opposed it. Although Octavian Goga had no particular links with Moldova, there is also a monument to him in the central park of the Moldovan capital. Goga's status and views appear as key elements in the creation of Moldovan nationalist identity, as well as in the Holocaust revisionist effort.

 

Responses to Antisemitism and Racism

The Moldovan authorities have endeavored to combat antisemitic manifestations in the country by condemning antisemitism on various occasions. They have also become more involved in the commemoration of Holocaust sites, approving the erection by Jewish organizations of several monuments in towns and villages. The principle of equality regardless of ethnic origin, language or religion is secured in the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, as well as in several other laws. These laws allow the existence of Jewish schools, libraries, synagogues and Jewish organizations, as detailed above.

            On the non-governmental level, as in previous years the main protestors against antisemitism and racism in Moldova were local groups, such as the Helsinki Citizens Assembly of Moldova, and publications such as the youth newspaper Mediapuls and the Jewish newspapers Evreiskoe mestechko and Istoki. The editor of the Moldovan-language weekly Saptamana (Saturday), Viorel Mihail, repeatedly attacked antisemitic manifestations in 2007, such as in his article, “Blind Europe Accepts Advocates of Fascism and Antisemitism from Chisinau” (nos. 39-40). Mihail also condemned Anatol Petrencu and his party, which, he said, had "a clear xenophobic and anti-Moldovan orientation." Saptamana has a large circulation and its role in combating antisemitism in Moldova should not be underestimated.

            In 2007, the well known Moldovan historian and publicist Piotr Shornikov published a series of articles in the Moldovan newspapers Evreiiskoe mestechko and Russloe slovo on the historiography of the Holocaust in Moldova. The articles have a strictly anti-revisionist character and raised great interest among readers. Covering the period of the Romanian occupation of Moldova during World War II and the crimes of Marshal Antonescu, they are amply supported by primary sources. In 2007 a new monograph on Moldovan identity, titled Moldovan Originality, was published by the same author. The book mostly discusses the processes of Moldovan nation-building and includes a chapter on World War II and the fate of Moldovan and Transnistrian Jews. The book may be considered a response to the pan-Romanian ideology and a useful tool for combating antisemitism and Holocaust revisionism.

Representatives of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe (ECRI) visited Moldova in autumn 2007 to investigate the inter-ethnic situation. According to their report, which was adopted in December 2007 (and made public in April 2008), there were a few cases of desecration of Jewish cemeteries (such as in March 2007 in Chisinau), but the authorities claimed that they had investigated them and could find no antisemitic motive behind them. In regard to antisemitic and Holocaust denial material published on the Internet, in the press and in literature, the prosecution authorities told ECRI that, so far, they had received no complaints. On this basis, ECRI recommended that the Moldovan authorities monitor all instances of antisemitism and strengthen efforts to punish the perpetrators. The report also pointed out that "ECRI is pleased to learn that the President of the Republic has participated in several events commemorating the victims of Holocaust in Moldova and has condemned antisemitism at such occasions. Some Holocaust commemoration monuments have been erected in Chisinau and in other parts of the country" (see http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/ecri/1-ecri/2-country-by-country_approach/moldova/Moldova%20Third%20report.pdf).