Each year, on October 9, Romania marks the National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust, following a decision by the government in 2004 at the proposal of the International Holocaust Research Commission in Romania, led by Nobel Peace prize winner Elie Wiesel.
Holocaust Day will be marked by “cultural activities, symposiums, roundtables and other themed actions” and public authorities will offer special support for these activities.
According to the Elie Wiesel National Holocaust Research Institute, on October 9, 1941, 26,000 Jewish people were deported from Suceava, Campulung Moldovenesc, Vatra Dornei, Radauti, Gura Humorului and other nearby towns towards Transnistria, after the deportation had started on September 14 in the Basarabia and Bucovina regions.
It is unknown exactly how many Romanian Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust, but the estimation is around 800,000 Romanian Jews who lived in Romania, North Transylvania (at the time under Hungarian rule), Ukraine and other European countries.
Internationally, Holocaust victims are commemorated on January 27, after a resolution was adopted in 2005 by the UN. The resolution also rejects any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event.