The Silent Holocaust

Appearing as they do in countless books and films, symbols of hatred such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, and the Warsaw and Vilna ghettos penetrate our consciousness, memory, and history. However, in the case of Romania, our knowledge is scant. In 1939, the Jewish population of Romania exceeded 750,000: the third largest concentration of Jews in all of Europe. By 1944, some 400,000 had disappeared. Another 150,000 Ukrainian Jews died at the hands of Romanian soldiers. In the quest for a "final solution" Romania proved to be Hitler's most enthusiastic ally. Butnaru provides the first English-language account of the war against Romania's Jewish population.