The Holocaust in South-Eastern Europe: Historiography, Archives Resources and Remembrance

The authors of "The Holocaust in Eastern Europe: Historiography, Archives Resources and Remembrance," Adina Babeş and Ana Bărbulescu, are two outstanding young researchers who work for the "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. It is important to emphasize that the Holocaust in Romania is divided into two parts: the Holocaust perpetrated by Romanian authorities within Romania's present-day borders (minus Northern Transylvania), Bukovina, Bessarabia, and Transnistria and the Holocaust perpetrated by Hungarian and German authorities in Northern Transylvania.

Their book has three parts:

- Part I deals Romanian post-communist archival resources and gives a good, solid description of archival sources relating to the Holocaust as well as emphasizes the total lack of access to Holocaust-related archives during the communist period.

- Part II focuses on recording discrimination, destruction, and rescue efforts. It is interesting and sheds new light on the persecution of neo-Protestant churches during the Antonescu regime as well as the participation of international charitable organizations in the rescue of Jews during the Holocaust.

- Part III address the aftermath of the Holocaust, providing fascinating chapters about the remembrance of the destruction of Roma during World War II and the post-communist politics of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which basically kept their Holocaust-related records completely sealed.

In conclusion, the volume "Holocaust in Eastern Europe: Historiography, Archives Resources and Remembrance" is an interesting and solid collection of articles, most of which shed new light on the history and historiography of the Holocaust in Europe.

Radu Ioanid,

Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The volume “The Holocaust in South-Eastern Europe” brings together rich and varied contributions that explore the complex interrelationship between access to archival resources, historiography and memorialisation. By conceptualising this vital relationship from a variety of perspectives and with reference to a region that is often still under-researched, the volume makes a critically important contribution to contemporary Holocaust studies. Above all, it highlights the centrality of open, transparent and well-documented archives for advances in Holocaust research and meaningful remembrance.

Dr. Reto Speck

Co-Director EHRI