Speaker Dragnea: Holocaust Remembrance Day in Romania, painful testimony

The Holocaust Remembrance Day in Romania remains a painful testimony, says Liviu Dragnea, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Social Democratic party (PSD) leader. 

"The Holocaust tragedy is permanently alive in our memory, and the date of October 9, with a special symbolism, compels us even more, each one of us, to reflect on the tragic consequences of extremism, discriminatory, anti-Semitic and racist actions. The Holocaust Remembrance Day in Romania remains a painful testimony. We cannot change those years; but we have the responsibility to carefully hold on to their lesson. Freedom, respect and understanding are values that we can build upon a healthy, democratic society in full accord with our own identity and the values of the European family we are part of, " Dragnea wrote on Tuesday, on Facebook. 

In Romania, by Government Decision no. 672 / 5 May 2004, the date of 9 October (marking the beginning of the Jews' deportation to Transnistria, in 1941) was approved for the official national commemoration of the Holocaust Remembrance Day.