Debates Concerning the Postwar War-Crimes Trials in Present-Day Romania
Debates Concerning the Postwar War-Crimes Trials in Present-Day Romania

The Case of Mircea Vulcănescu and the Romanian Prosecution of Soviet History

Summary/Abstract: This paper addresses the debates concerning Mircea Vulcănescu’s legacy in present-dayRomanian public life. An important intellectual from the interwar period who wrote on avariety of topics ranging from theology to philosophy, Vulcănescu became a member ofIon Antonescu’s Cabinet and was directly involved in the economic spoliation of theRomanian Jewry during the Holocaust. Condemned for his actions in the postwar period,Vulcănescu was sentenced to prison and died before carrying out his sentence, as a resultof improper living conditions. After 1989, Vulcănescu’s supporters have portrayed him asa martyr whose death was symbolic of the destruction of Romanian culture by communism.Notwithstanding his tragic death, the article argues that his conviction was in line with thosepronounced by the international war-crimes tribunals. Looking at the attempts to obfuscatethe true cause of the trial and Vulcănescu’s involvement in the Antonescu regime, the studyshows that they impede the coming to terms with the past. Resistance to engaging with thememory of the Holocaust in Romania is shown to come from nationalistic and conservativepublic figures, intellectuals and officials in the Romanian Orthodox Church.

• Details
• Contents