"During the times of the Holocaust, in the Warsaw Ghetto, an underground group, led by historian Emanuel Ringelblum which included numerous Jewish writers, scientist and ordinary people, started to secretly collect documents, articles and research that belonged to the community inside the walls. The name of the underground archive was “Oneg Shabbat” meaning the pleasant ritual of the Shabbat day. It ensured that the voice of ordinary people would last.
In 2007, Samuel Kassow published a book based on the materials found after the war.
The name of the book is “Who Will Write Our History?”
This was one of the questions that the people in the Ghetto were asking themselves during the times of war. Today, the few last survivors of the Holocaust ask themselves the same question: “Who will write our history?”
Research has shown that the more related a person is to an event, the more effective the memory is. Memory is only alive if one transforms it into something relevant to himself. If one turns history into present. And this is why we are here today, to write our history. To write the history of the Jewish people in Romania.
Romanian authorities have made remarkable efforts in promoting education on the topic of the Shoah. They have taken concrete measures: teaching young generations on this subject, passing legislation banning Holocaust denial, contributing to adopting a working definition of antisemitism to name just a few.
Romania is not only a country that promises measures, but one that actively takes a stand against xenophobia, racism and discrimination and which has made this one of its priorities during the Presidency of the EU Council. And I would like, Madam Prime Minister, to publicly thank you for that.
We live in a time in which xenophobia, antisemitism, intolerance and Holocaust denial are part of the conversation in Europe. The above mentioned are a threat not only for the Jewish community. They are a threat on the European ideals, on the European Project.
A National Museum of the History of the Jews and Holocaust will be an important tool to deal with the dark chapter of the Holocaust in Romania. Only by assuming the past can one build a future. And on this note I would like to add that I trust that the Romanian Government and the Bucharest City Council will manage to solve this inconvenient situation in the near future."