Watchdog: Romanian politician said Jews inflated Holocaust death toll

A Romanian watchdog on anti-Semitism says it is worried by the mayoral candidacy of a Bucharest politician after it emerges he claimed local Jews lied for money about the number of their brethren killed in the Holocaust.

Marian Munteanu of the National Liberal Party, Romania’s second largest, made the accusation in a press statement he co-signed in 1994, when he was part of the Christian-nationalist Movement for Romania organization.

The statement says Jewish groups put the number of Romanians killed in the Holocaust at 420,000 to “obtain illicit moneys from Romanian people through disinformation and manipulation of public opinion, with the complicity of treacherous elements who infiltrated the Romanian institutional structures,” according to Evenimentul Zilei, one of Romania’s leading newspapers.

The Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of Holocaust warns that Munteanu “presents a concern” not only because of his nationalist rhetoric and “statements minimizing or denying” the Holocaust, but also for “misrepresenting” reality today, according to the Agerpres news website.

— JTA

Most Popular
If you’d like to comment, join
The Times of Israel Community.
Join The Times of Israel Community
Commenting is available for paying members of The Times of Israel Community only. Please join our Community to comment and enjoy other Community benefits.
Please use the following structure: example@domain.com
Confirm Mail
Thank you! Now check your email
You are now a member of The Times of Israel Community! We sent you an email with a login link to . Once you're set up, you can start enjoying Community benefits and commenting.