On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, officiated by the UN in 2005, Tarbut Sighet Foundation was extremely busy, delivering presentations to almost 1000 high school students from Baia Mare, Sighet, Piatra Niamtze and Bucharest.

I would like to congratulate the school Principals and their teachers for taking the time to allocate such a program during the week of January 27, 2022.

January 27, 1945 was a significant date during the Holocaust. On that day the Red Russian Army liberated Auschwitz camp. My mother was a prisoner for close to a year before being recruited by the Nazi officers to take part in the “Death Marches”, starting on January 18, 1945. My Dear Mother Sary Walter and her sister Agi were finally liberated in Bergen Belsen on April 15, 1945 by the British Army.

Why did Tarbut Sighet Foundation start a campaign to encourage as many Romanian schools as possible to observe the International Holocaust Remembrance Day?

Romania following the Elie Wiesel Report in 2002, took responsibility for the almost one million Jews who were affected by the Romanian Holocaust.

Unfortunately, due to the Communist Regime for close to five decades, this subject has not been spoken nor taught in Romanian schools. Many knew what had happened but were simply afraid to even mention- let alone to teach the subject.

Today, 30 years after the “December Revolution” in 1989, we must make sure the story is told to the present young generation - it is part of Romanian history during WW II.

The government of Romania, like all other EU member states, has established in 2005 the official date for the Romanian Holocaust Commemoration on October 9th: Remembering the 450,000 Jews who were murdered, starved and killed in Transnistria and Auschwitz camps, as well as at the Bucharest, Iasi and Dorohoi Pogroms. October 9th has been chosen since it represents the beginning of the Bukovina deportations.

Our presentations emphasize the importance of Remembrance and Memory.

We empower our students with an “Ambassadors” title. These young man and women are graduating high school and will be traveling to study, work or even live abroad, or move across Romania. We provide them with tools to be able to say:

“I heard a survivors Testimony, I heard the story of a Jewish Family from my town, city, village” They become witness.

We have been facing, dealing and speaking about Anti-Semitism for decades – my personal feeling however is that “Anti-Semitism was, is and will continue”. It is like a virus that comes in waves depending on the international political situation. Therefore, we have to be aware and vigilant to make sure it is always watched carefully.

A second issue was extremely popular about 30 years ago “Deniers”.

Headed by David Irvine, who lost the 2000 trial case against Dr. Deborah Lipstadt who has been recently chosen to be the “Ombudsman to monitor & Combat Antisemitism” by President Joe Biden. With Irving being defeated, denying the Holocaust is no longer a popular historical study.

Distorting history is nevertheless a new and problematic issue, that has arisen in the past five years across some European countries.

In our presentations we strongly emphasize this distortion issue that has been hitting Europe and is starting to spread to North America and across other countries.

We find Distortion as dangerous as Antisemitism and general Holocaust denial.