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Romanian Jews

Photographer Edward Serotta takes a self-portrait in a hotel room during his efforts to document Romania in the 1980s. (Courtesy Serotta via JTA)
April 11, 2026, 7:07 am
Romanian secret police trailed a Jewish photographer in the ’80s. Those files are now a film
Edward Serotta only recently discovered he’d been surveilled while traveling the communist country. Acclaimed director Radu Jude has turned the findings into a short documentary
By Toby Axelrod
Presidential candidate George Simion speaks to media after polls closed for the second round of the country's presidential election redo in Bucharest, Romania, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
August 18, 2025, 1:53 am
After a contentious election, Romania’s few Jews remain on guard against antisemitism
While Jewish communities in Western Europe are on edge due to the Gaza War, their Romanian counterparts worry over a rising far-right fueled in part by lack of Holocaust awareness
By Larry Luxner
Roman parliamentarian Silviu Vexler (right) stands next to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Coral Temple in Bucharest, Romania, May 4, 2022. (Andrei Pungovschi/AFP)
July 12, 2025, 11:10 pm
Jewish Romanian lawmaker slams president for opposing antisemitism bill
Silviu Vexler returns national order of merit after Nicusor Dan challenges bill outlawing celebration of fascist leaders at Romania’s high court
By Luiza Ilie
Leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians party George Simion speaks to supporters after first exit polls were announced, in the second round of the presidential election in Bucharest, Romania, on May 18, 2025. (Mihai Barbu / AFP)
May 19, 2025, 11:11 pm
Politician whose party called Holocaust ‘minor topic’ loses Romania presidential bid
George Simion met with Israel’s envoy to Romania in 2022 amid criticism from Yad Vashem over far-right party’s antisemitism record, ending official Israeli boycott of group
By Grace Gilson
Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli speaks at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 25, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
December 2, 2024, 5:56 am
Romania ‘shocked’ by Israeli minister’s call with candidate who praised WWII antisemites
After Amichai Chikli talks with Calin Georgescu, Bucharest’s ambassador denounces ‘insult,’ demands apology for the apparent backing of far-right figure who lauded murderers of Jews
By Lazar Berman
Left to right: Israeli Ambassador to Romania Reuven Azar, AUR party leader George Simion and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan meet at the Romanian parliament in Bucharest, August 28, 2023. (Courtesy: AUR)
August 28, 2023, 8:10 pm
Israeli envoy meets head of Romanian party accused of antisemitism, drawing rebuke
Foreign Ministry lifts ban on AUR party, which issues statement partly walking back glorification of fascists and objection to Holocaust studies; Yad Vashem: We weren’t consulted
By Michael Bachner and Lazar Berman
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen attends a Knesset committee hearing, June 12, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 4, 2023, 6:57 pm
Foreign minister denies lifting ban on Romanian party accused of antisemitism
But Eli Cohen acknowledges assessing whether the Alliance for the Union of Romanians has undergone ‘a real change that will open the door for Israel to revisit its boycott’
By Lazar Berman
Michael Shafir in a 2011 interview. (Screenshot: YouTube; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
November 24, 2022, 10:11 am
Michael Shafir, scholar who wrote ‘encyclopedia’ of Holocaust denial, dies at 78
Israeli-Romanian researcher, who played key role in Holocaust memory in the former Soviet country, is remembered for his straightforward, humorous presentation of difficult truths
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
A rabbi checks the quality of poultry meat in a kosher slaughterhouse in Csengele, Hungary on January 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh)
November 16, 2022, 3:13 am
Romania passes ‘landmark law’ guaranteeing right to kosher slaughter
Conference of European Rabbis hails legislation as a model for other European countries amid battle over ritual killing of animals on continent
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
Iosefin Synagogue in Timisoara, Romania, as seen on a new website opening doors to historical synagogues in Romania's Banat region. (Sebastian Puraci/Asociația Pantograf/ via JTA)
November 8, 2022, 2:38 am
Romania’s ornate and sometimes crumbling synagogues get new access via virtual tours
Through the Stories of the Synagogues website, visitors can view the beautiful houses of worship that stand where few, if any, of their previous congregants remain
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
Rabbi Sorin Rosen is Romania's youngest-ever chief rabbi. (Courtesy of Rabbi Sorin Rosen/ via JTA)
September 6, 2022, 9:47 pm
Rabbi spends 7 years translating the Torah into Romanian
With an eye on translating the entire Bible, Rabbi Sorin Rosen is taking a moment to appreciate the texts that are already changing the way Romanian Jews engage with tradition
By Aviva Engel
Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga (right) and Romanian Rear Admiral Mihai Panait attend a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the drowning of the Struma ship on that event's 80th anniversary in Constanţa, Romania, on February 22, 2022. (Courtesy of the Israeli embassy in Romania via JTA)
February 23, 2022, 1:10 pm
For 1st time, Romania commemorates Holocaust refugees who died when Struma torpedoed
Ceremony held to honor the estimated 779 Jews killed when ship was mistaken by Red Army submarine for a hostile vessel; only 1 survived the 1941 attack
By Cnaan Liphshiz
iviu Beris visits a Holocaust memorial in Bucharest, Romania, Oct. 8, 2009. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP)
January 29, 2022, 6:42 am
Liviu Beris, Romanian Holocaust survivor who became a genetics pioneer, dies at 93
Beris tirelessly shared his personal story with younger generations and famously debated an antisemite on live TV
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
From 'Beyond the Ashes' by artist Beverly-Jane Stewart at the Yad LaBanim House in Rishon Lezion, for International Holocaust Day 2022 (Courtesy Duncan Phillips)
January 27, 2022, 5:13 pm
2 solo exhibits look back on Jewish communities lost to Holocaust
Works by British artist Beverly Jane Stewart represent Romanian Jewry and European synagogues, in Tel Aviv and Rishon Lezion, respectively
By Jessica Steinberg
Jews visit the graves of relatives killed in the Holocaust during World War II, in the Romanian city of Lasi, November 28, 2012 (Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
January 8, 2022, 7:54 am
Right-wing Romanian political party calls Holocaust education a ‘minor topic’
Populist AUR says subjects such as national history have been relegated in schools in its favor; statement draws criticism from Israeli ambassador, watchdogs
By MARCEL GASCÓN BARBERÁ
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