On February 24, 2005, The National Post published “Confronting Romanian Antisemitism,” my analysis of Romania’s so-called progress in facing up to its role during the Holocaust. The article denounced the decisions of then-President Ion Iliescu’s government, a regime that awarded the highest Romanian medal of honor to two notorious antisemites, both fascists and Holocaust deniers: Corneliu Vadim Tudor and Gheorghe Buzatu. My article suggested that Romania must remain on probation, and that the world must watch the country’s progress before admitting it to the European Union.

Almost a year later, Romania is failing its test. In Bucharest, the Romanian-Jewish newspaper Realitatea Evreiasca (Jewish Reality) published a statement on Nov. 18, 2005, issued by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FJCR). The few Jewish groups that still exist are strongly protesting (and not for the first time) the Romanian government’s inaction following blatant incidents of antisemitism and the continuing presence of antisemitic remarks in state owned, as well as private, media.

The Jewish Federation’s statement cites numerous acts of vandalism and desecration of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries in the cities and towns of Vatra Dornei, Suceava, Târgu Mures, and other locations. The newspaper reports sales of antisemitic books, bookstore and street-stand displays of texts that deny the Holocaust…

Before the Second World War some 800,000 Jews lived in Romania. They were a community proud of its creative, flourishing contribution to all fields of Romanian society. Today, less than 8,000, mostly elderly, Romanian Jews still live in the country…

Romania’s position as a member of the European Union remains under close watch. But the negative echoes still coming out of Bucharest today are not consistent with the new European spirit. This is today’s Romania: The government’s request that schools and universities teach the Holocaust, reported so enthusiastically over the last year, remains on paper only. The curriculum is merely optional.