Rewrite

Romanian history has seen many rewriting rounds, changing, suppressing, denying countless facts. As a kid, I have seen how the history books changed and we were basically supposed to have selective amnesia in order not to spot huge discrepancies (and/or ask very dangerous questions about those).

One of the much debated aspects of recent Romanian history is the figure of the fascist wartime dictator Ion Antonescu. He was, in post-communist years, elevated to the status of a national hero, voting rounds for the Top 100 Great Romanians even ranked him No. 6 on the list.

The whitewashing of this convicted war criminal, responsible for ethnic cleansing, multitude of pogroms, an entire extermination policy, establishment of a criminal paramilitary organisation during WW2, well, was breathtaking. Already during Ceausescu's regime, facts about his life were totally rewritten and he was increasingly presented as a 'savior' of the country.

This whitewashing, exacerbated during the post-communist years, has now taken a major blow.

For the first time in 65 years, the crimes committed by the Romanian Army against (in this particular case) the Jews, are exposed in tragically tangible manner.

Near a village called Popricani, a mass grave has been unearthed - first of many located by archaeologists. The tens, possibly hundreds (the work is still ongoing) of bodies ended up in this particular mass grave during the summer of 1941, after mass executions committed by the Romanian Army. There are still eyewitnesses, and confessions dating back many years - however, these have been largely suppressed.

This is just the beginning - and possibly this time, some history books will be, finally, rewritten... to re-instate historic facts related to the much documented (but inside Romania, largely suppressed) aspects of the so-called Iasi Pogrom.

One can't have the delusion that the numerous individuals in key positions of Romanian administration, the Romanian Army, ideologically affected 'historians' who all orchestrated the vast farce that elevated Antonescu to the heights of a national hero will have some crisis of conscience.

Antonescu with all his genocides (and war crimes, as in current legal terms we have to make clear distinction between the two) maybe finally will be treated on a factual basis. Maybe his regime will be discussed properly in the newly written and re-written history books.

Problem is, as with many other aspects of re-written Romanian history, that after many decades of indoctrination, vast numbers of people believe the dogma rather than any new facts. Even in the era of the internet, all details being available to everybody from now on, there will be a strong undercurrent in Romania, still denying large and crucial parts of history.

Certain ideological rewriting of history always seems more appealing than difficult facts... To pull Eco into this, we do live in an evangelical world and to apply this 'faith in fakes' idea to Romania's still much indoctrinated masses, such new facts re-enforcing old suppressed historic facts will be less appealing than the fakes.

Still, Romania as a 'European' country, whilst looking into the horror of these freshly opened mass graves, should reflect just what does it want to say.

Will it continue to cover up, as just one of the most despicable historic cover-ups, the facts of its 'national hero'... or will be brave enough, for the first time, to step into the limelight of international opinion and state those facts?

Let's see... at least I can't have illusions on this front, but there is some hope... that at least for those that want to look and listen, the facts will be accessible in their full clarity...

Will there ever be in Romania something like the Truth and Reconciliation Committee? It would be a truly important gesture whilst we all trumpet our European values. And it would be unimaginably important as a national catharsis of some kind, just once in history, being able to face the facts of the past - even if very difficult.

Ray Bradbury stated, echoing somebody else in one of his short stories, that a nation without a past can not have a future. A fake past is always more damaging than a silenced or missing past...