International Workshop from the 16th to the 20th October 2014 in Bucharest

This workshop is part of a series of international interdisciplinary meetings and discussions about the memory culture and memory politics of the Holocaust and the fascist regimes in different European states.

It will explore the history of the Holocaust in Romania and the recent debates about ways of forgetting, remembering, witnessing and writing history. The discussions will be set in the broader field of transnational German-Romanian relations.

Almost 70 years after the fall of the fascist regimes in the Romanian territory, the history of the Holocaust in Romania is still controversially debated and the process of writing this history is still going on. Ten years ago the International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania published a Final Report and substantiated the Romanian responsibility on the crimes against Jews and Roma. Different research projects and publications followed, empowering the view of minorities on (their) Romanian history, while at the same time historical figures who supported the fascist regime are still being celebrated as heroes and a broader critical discussion on fascism, nationalism and racism has not yet taken place.

With the aim of sharing knowledge and understanding more about this socio-political/ historical context, the four-day workshop focuses on the following topics:

1. the rise of nationalism, fascism, anti-Semitism, anti-Roma policies, the Holocaust in Romania, and stories of antifascist resistance;
2. personal stories of survivors and historical narratives;
3. the wide field of memory politics and revisionism;
4. public awareness, historical-political education and antifascist movements.

Each topic will be addressed through short presentations followed by extended discussion sessions, film screenings and in the frame of a historical city tour (most of them in English and with English translation). We invite interested researchers, educators, students, activists and artists to take part in this collective learning process.

Participation in the workshop is free. However, for organisational purposes, please register beforehand by writing to the following email address, providing your name and contact details: E-mail: info.3rd.buchenwald@gmail.com

// program and detailed program //

Organizers: The organizational team is part of an international group called “Third Generation Buchenwald” connected to the former concentration camp Buchenwald either through family stories, friendships, research or personal interest. Our aim is to keep the memory of the concentration camp Buchenwald alive, through collective action, and to build a vivid and meaningful international memory dealing with the Nazi crimes committed at Buchenwald and beyond. Through the memories of prisoners from all over Europe and the world, Buchenwald has always been an international place. Therefore we want to explore the history of nationalism, fascism and memory politics in different European countries.

16th October    History of fascism and Holocaust in Romania

10.30 am             Introduction                                                         

Ioana Florea and Jelena Steigerwald: Third Generation Buchenwald // Buchenwald Oath – why this workshop

11.30 am             Roland Ibold: Places of the Holocaust – Searching for Unwritten History

Elisabeth Weber: Anti-Semitic Violence in Interwar Romania

2.00 pm               Break

3.30 pm                Petre Matei: Roma survivors of Deportations to Transnistria during WWII and their                                        Problems Today

6.00 pm               David Schwartz: Histories of Resistance. Persecution of Left-wing Activists before 1945

Conclusion for the first day

17th October    Witnessing History and writing History

10.00 am            Talk with Liviu Beris, survivor of deportation to Transnistria: Personal experience and educational work today (Association of the Survivors of the Holocaust in Romania)

1.00 pm               Break

2.30 pm               Arnold Schlachter: Changing Identity. The German Minority in Interwar Romania

Jelena Steigerwald: Concepts of Memory culture – a critical approach

5.00 pm               Break

7.00 pm                Film: Valea Plangerii //  Vally of Sights (Romania 2013, 55 min) Film screening and

debate with director Mihai Leaha

18th October    Memory politics of fascism and Holocaust in Romania

11.00 am             Veda Popovici: Disavowing the Non-white self. A short history of the desire for

Europeanness from fascism to civic nationalism

Roland Ibold, Victor Vozian: The Social and the Ethnical: the neoconservative and the far

right pillars of Romanian neo-fascism in times of economical crisis and social protest

1.30 pm                Break

2.30 pm               City Tour: Forgotten memory (places) and memory landscape in Bucharest // Today’s

representative spaces of nationalism

6.30 pm               Elana Katz: Presentation on Spaced Memory

20th October    Dealing with Holocaust and fascism in historical education

Last day – hours can be changed according to the participants’ availability!

Talks might start at 4 pm, if requested.

11.30 am              Isabel Panek: “Who is talking” – Reflections on historiography and remembrance

1.00 pm               Break

2.30 pm               Future projects, acting together

7.00 pm                Final talk with Sarah Einik and art students [to be confirmed]