[Documents/Docheader.htm]Modernisation of history teaching in Romanian schools
Written Question No. 435 to the Chairman of the Committee of MinistersDoc. 10043
26 January 2004Reply from the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers
I. Written Question No. 435 by Mr Neguta (Doc. 9955 rev.)
Considering that in a number of Romanian school and university textbooks, approved by the Romanian Ministry of Education, certain periods of contemporary history, especially the role of Romania and its leadership in the Second World War is interpreted in a way to rehabilitate the war crimes and the Holocaust organised by the Romanian leaders of that period. Till this summer the leadership of Romania also denied the participation of the country in mass extermination of Jews during the Second World War (during those 1213 days of Romanian occupation of Moldova a Jew was killed approximately every 2 minutes). At the level of public perception Marshal Ion Antonescu, a war criminal, is considered a national hero. Such manipulation of history, such an official position, contribute to the perpetuation of the nationalistic, anti-Semitic and xenophobic spirits in the Romanian society, a spirit that is in flagrant contradiction with modern European values,
Mr Neguta
To ask the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers,
What measures will undertake the Committee of Ministers to assist the Romanian Government in the modernisation of history teaching in Romanian schools and universities?
II. Reply by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers
1. In reply to Written question No. 435, the Committee of Ministers sets out in the Appendix information supplied by the Romanian authorities on the modernisation of history teaching in the spirit of Committee of Ministers Recommendation Rec(2001)15 on history teaching in twenty-first-century Europe.
2. The Council of Europe assists the Romanian authorities, like those of other member states, in the modernisation of history teaching. Romania participates in the Council of Europe’s multilateral project on history teaching, in the regional project for a teaching pack on the history of the Black Sea and in the history activities of the in-service teacher training programme.
3. Concerning the teaching of the Holocaust, it is important to mention the close cooperation of the Council of Europe with the Romanian authorities in recent years in the preparation of activities related to the Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and of prevention of crimes against humanity. Following the implementation of the above-mentioned Recommendation Rec(2001)15 of the Committee of Ministers and, in particular, the decision to have a "Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and of prevention of crimes against humanity" in schools, Romania has chosen 21 January as the Day of Remembrance in schools, this day being the date when the persecutions against the Jews in Romania started. The Romanian Ministry of Education and Research, in close cooperation with some Institutions from Israel (in particular Yad Vashem), has started in-service teacher training on this subject. The Council of Europe organised a European teacher-training seminar on "Teaching the Holocaust" (report written by Michai Manea available - Council of Europe Publishing, September 2003) in May 2003, in Bucharest.
4. Moreover, Romania is closely cooperating with the International Task Force for Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research with a view to becoming a full member. The Working Group on Romania has been officially recognised, which would guarantee the presence of Romanian officials at the meetings, and allows for the Working Group to be in permanent contact with the Romanian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Education and Culture.
Appendix
The Romanian authorities are determined to conduct a thorough examination of the Holocaust.
The Romanian educational curricula include the study of the Holocaust. Through Order no. 3000/01.01.1999 of the Minister of Education, education on the Holocaust was introduced in the school curricula. The Order stipulates that "the subject of Holocaust is included in the History analytical curricula".
In accordance with this Order, since 1999 the issue of the Holocaust has been studied in the textbooks of History for the 7th and 8th grade in the context of the study of the Second World War as well as in the 12th grade.
The Romanian Government also supports the Centres for Judaic Studies to the Universities of Bucharest, Cluj and Craiova.
The most important actions undertaken by the Romanian authorities, together with the Council of Europe are:
- Participation of the Romanian Minister of Education in the colloquy and ministerial seminar "The Holocaust and Artistic Creation" (Strasbourg, 17-18 October 2002);
- The Seminar "Teaching Holocaust in the 21st century: remembering the past and preventing crimes against humanity" (Cluj Napoca, Romania, 6 May-11 May 2003), organised together with the Ministry of Education and Research of Romania and the Institute for Judaic Studies of the Babes Bolyai University (Cluj).
On 22 October 2003 the Romanian authorities established the "Commission on the Holocaust and its aftermath in Romania".
The Commission will be chaired by Mr Elie Wiesel, the 1986 laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, and its members will be Romanian, Israeli and American historians. Among its deputy chairpersons are Mr Radu Ioanid, the director of the International Archival Program Division in the HolocaustMuseum (United States) and Dr Tuvia Friling, State Archivist, director of BenGurionResearchCenter (Israel). The coordinator of the secretariat of the Commission will be Prof. Dr Ioan Scurtu, State Counsellor in the Presidency of Romania.
The Commission will study the situation of the Jews in Romania between 1937 and 1945. In its activity the Commission will be completely independent, will have unrestricted access to archives and documents and will receive financial and logistic support from the Romanian authorities. The conclusions of the research will be public and will be part of the educational curricula.
The Commission will present its final conclusions and recommendations to the Romanian Government in June 2005 and present intermediate reports every six months.