ON THE HOLOCAUST

On the Holocaust! A podcast that shows us what we must remember! A project that brings to the foreground a history hidden and recovered. The podcast is produced by the National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, “Elie Wiesel,” with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation.

For almost seven decades, the Holocaust was a taboo subject, an episode in Romania’s history that it was wanted to be forgotten. For some of us, it continues to be a fact denied or ignored. Whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not, whether we can accept it or not, there was a Holocaust in Romania. There were antisemitic laws, murders, violence, the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people persecuted on arbitrary and incomprehensible criteria. Photographs, documents, and testimonies bring to light what it was wanted to be forgotten.

Today, we are rediscovering, recovering, and learning to accept that the Holocaust is part of our recent past. Remembrance has helped us to be aware and alert to the dangers that hatred has given birth to. Acceptance has a difficult path. Many times, it intersects with denial. It is much easier to deny or ignore. Acceptance, however, is a sure path to “healing.”

On the Holocaust is not a history lesson. It is an honest dialogue in which we try to answer questions that many of us probably have: Who denies the Holocaust? Why and when to talk about the Holocaust in schools? What do photographs tell us about the Holocaust? Who were the perpetrators and saviors? Why Jew and Roma instead of Gypsy and Jew?

Ana Bărbulescu and Marius Cazan, researchers of the “Elie Wiesel” Institute, invite us to an open discussion with historians, teachers, writers, and survivors to rediscover history from a different perspective and to understand what is important not to assume the past.

Produced by with the support of