Romania: We will not withdraw coin depicting anti-Semitic leader
U.S. Holocaust Memorial official had asked Romania to withdraw coins bearing the image of Miron Cristea, who had stripped 37 percent of the Jewish population of its citizenship.
By Haaretz Service and Reuters Tags: Israel news RomaniaRomania's central bank on Thursday said it would not withdraw from circulation a coin featuring an image of a prime minister who stripped Jews of their citizenship before World War II, stressing it had not intended to send an anti-Semitic message.
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Man visiting Holocaust memorial in Bucharest, 2009. |
| Photo by: AP |
The coin depicts the late Patriarch Miron Cristea, who led the Romanian Orthodox Church from 1925 to 1939 and was prime minister from 1938 to 1939. A commission set up by the National Bank to reconsider it said it was minted only as one of five to commemorate Romania's five patriarchs at the request of Romania's influential Orthodox Church.
The bank said in a statement that "the set of coins were decisively and intrinsically linked ....to an institution which had an essential role in defining and developing the national and cultural identity of Romania."
The bank added it did not want to "transmit a xenophobic, racist or anti-Semitic message with the collection."
Radu Ioanid, who runs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's international archives in Washington, had called for the withdrawal of the coin commemorating Cristea. He was not immediately available for comment.
As prime minister, Cristea was responsible for revising the citizenship law, stripping about 225,000 Jews - or 37 percent of the Jewish population - of citizenship.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish campaign group, responded angrily to the decision to mint the coin.
"We are shocked and disappointed that the National Bank of Romania has decided to honor Miron Cristea, even after consideration of his anti-Semitic actions and statements," wrote ADL's chairman, Abraham Foxman, in a letter to Romanian President Traian Basescu.
"As Prime Minister on the eve of World War II, Miron Cristea called upon Romanians 'to fight the Jewish parasites' and stripped 225,000 Jews of their Romanian citizenship," Gofman wrote. "Having been a Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church does not excuse his anti-Semitism and the crimes he committed against Romanian Jews."
He added: "We hope the effort to promote Holocaust education and remembrance among the Romanian people can benefit from the National Bank’s lapse of judgment."
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Israel is a nation that honours terrorists and murderers. They usually elect them to Prime Minister.
Considering that some of the those 225,000 Jews were denied BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS & some possible ended up at Germany's MURDER FACTORIES a protest is in order. The United States ambassador stated "I am very disappointed" & "Cristea's actions as Prime Minister - specifically his role in the revocation of citizenship for over 225,000 Romanian Jews - cannot be ignored." Yes, if somebody help to slaughter half of my PEOPLE i would be a upset, as would any intelligent creature & perhaps there are those who do not fit this criteria and read this newspaper.
It took 15 years until Romania admitted facts which were well-known by entire civilized world, namely the Romanian Holocaust, which claimed the life of 280.000 defenseless Jews by deportations to Transnistria and several pogroms under the regime of Antonescu, Hitler's ally. There will be always negationists and anti-Semites who will defend the criminals. Below articles on Romanian websites (among them very popular TV stations' and newspapers' websites) there are hundreds of blatant anti-Semitic comments and open instigations to murder all the remaining Jews. The state institutions, approached in this matter, are completely apathetic .How about that? The coin of Miron Cristea is the smallest problem of today's Romania. The main problem is the "rich" anti-Semitic heritage of hatred.
I was 7 years old and I even did not know who Jesus was....... They are born antisemites and will die antisemites...... Nothisng to be done. That is the reason why the Jews NEED their OWN country ISRAEL
isrl has memorials and statues of their own with machine guns who went into mosques killing people praying. i guess they believe the world revolves around them. when do we ask them to make some changes? of course i am pretty sure they would have a few choice words for me with such a request.
"As prime minister, Cristea was responsible for revising the citizenship law, stripping about 225,000 Jews - or 37 percent of the Jewish population - of citizenship." It is a Hutzpa to raise the issue of stripping Romainian Jews of their citizenship when the same was and is being done NOW to Palestinians. And the one responsible for the current push to strip Palestinians of their's is none other than Avigdor Lieberman. How long will it be before Lieberman appears on Israeli currency?
You mean hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were stripped of Israeli citizenship? I say old bean I must show my astonishment of your claim. Is it a fact, or a clever rose?
because the parallel you draw is false.
a professional victim ? INSOLENCE for so much ignorance about the PLANNED destruction of HUMANS, about so much suffering ... and Jewish Children were tattooed .. NEVER AGAIN...GOD bless IDF, Defenders of Noble Jewish Nation !
The komisar Radu Ioanid have to justify his tenure in this industry.Romania is not antisemitic but if people like Ioanid will go on to teach them what they have to do ,surely they will become.Ioanid ,the former communist with a family of high positions in the Communist Party is not the man which could interfere in Romania decisions.He expressed some anti Romanian sentiments and is not the person indicated to blame Romania.
Abe Foxman is a professional victim.
If Romania won't withdraw a coin, how strong an ally would it be in a military confrontation? However, given Israel's standing in the world today, an ally giving occasional lip service is the best that can be expected.
"We hope the effort to promote Holocaust" Why not leave the sentence there? It's been some 65 years and the voices are louder and more strident then ever.
He is indeed part of their culture. Why should they run from that? Instead, they ought to be apologizing to the families of his victims. Meanwhiel, neither Romania nor the world should EVER forget what he and other Romanians did to the defenseless Romanian Jews during WWII.
Miron Cristea, (monastic name of Elie Cristea; July 20, 1868—March 6, 1939) He died in 1939!
Good for them. You people want everyone to stay out of Israel's business, your people should do the same as well. Not everything revolves around your holocaust and victim ideology.
The bank said in a statement that "the set of coins were decisively and intrinsically linked ....to an institution which had an essential role in defining and developing the national and cultural identity of Romania." - a cultural identity which is undoubtedly still anti-Semitic - as it has always been.
I can bet my life savings u will have apicture on a coin and if anyone says anything u would say its part of our history whether u like it or not. and to keep out of your business.
As someone else pointed out, some US presidents depicted on US currency were slave owners, should we ask US to remove them from their currency? Cristea is being depicted only because he was the FIRST of the 5 romanian patriarchs, and had a big role in the re-unification of Romania. We do understand he was an anti-semite, as was most of Europe at that time, but we can't erase our history. Should the egyptians not depict Ramses because he persecuted the jews?
All I ask is that modern Romanians own up the the crimes committed by prior leaders. If they do that and they still wish to honor them, to me that signals a lack of learning from the past.
Most Romanians don't even know who he is or what he has represented. It's just another ugly mug on a currency who will change to Euros soon enough. It's a non-story, except for one man who wants to profit from controversy--Radu Ioanid, who runs the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Lots of racists and bigots on our currency. African nations haven't asked us to remove slaveholders from our bills and currency, because we won't because it's our history, the good and the bad.
People do not obey orders by anyone.
Where does it say it was an order?
Perhaps it would have been better if you had kept quiet.