Romania: Historiography on Holocaust and Postwar Justice Studies

Abstract

Research on the Holocaust in Romania does, as an area of research, fare so much better than other case studies in terms of interest and researchers dedicating their time to study it. In this context, a brief overview of historiography on the Holocaust in Romania must take into account a few key factors: access to archives on Holocaust-related files, evolution of the subject within larger historical narratives of Romanian history of the 20th century, trends in Holocaust research in the last few years both in Romania and abroad, as well as the dynamic between historical research and public memory in Romania. Nevertheless, and in relation to this historiographical forum, despite its relative development, one aspect related to the Holocaust in Romania has drawn significantly less scholarly attention: war crimes trials and the efforts at postwar justice. Because of this under-research, although the documentation is especially relevant in terms of archives, the following contribution focuses on the importance of the study of the postwar trials for the field after outlining the main features of the historiography on the Holocaust in Romania.