The Use and Abuse of the Holocaust: Historiography and Politics in Moldova

Since the collapse of the USSR the historical profession in Moldova has changed to reflect new political circumstances and interests. This revolution profoundly influences writing about World War II, Romania and the Antonescu dictatorship, the experience of Bessarabia in the 1940s, and the destruction of Romania’s Jews and Roma. Certain nationalist historians minimize the crimes of the Antonescu regime and its supporters, while the present Communist Party, its supporters, and others stress them. How the study of the Holocaust fares in this politicized atmosphere forms the subject of the present study.