The Central European University

The Central European University

Nationalism Studies Program

cordially invites you to a lecture by

Diana Dumitru

The Holocaust in Bessarabian and Transnistria: Bringing

the Local Population into the Story
In inter-war period, Bessarabia was part of the newly enlarged state of Romania, while most of the territory known later by the name Transnistria was part of the newly established Soviet Union. During the Second World War, both territories were united under a Romanian war-time administration that fought against the Soviet Union. During this time part of the local Jews were killed on the spot, meanwhile others were gathered in ghettos and later marched east in a bid to “cleanse” Romania of its Jews. This study will trace various experience of these Jews under wartime conditions. Jews in the west of the Nistru River were subjected to higher levels of violence (murder, rape, pillage, and other forms of abuse) by the local population. Jews in the eastern part were subjected to lower levels of violence and higher levels of charity and aid by the local population. This lecture will explain why the Jews of Bessarabia and Transnistria encountered such variations in attitudes and behavior of their fellow countrymen. Evidence for this research has been gathered from primary sources: survivor’s testimonies; interviews material with the local population in Moldova and Ukraine; and archival material from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, such as police and military records and reports from trials.

Tuesday, March 17 at 6 p.m.

Gellner Room, Monument Building

Dr. Diana Dumitru is an associate professor of history at the State Pedagogical University of Moldova, where she teaches courses on 20th Century East European history, totalitarianism, fascism, and ethnic conflict. Her research interests include the Holocaust in Romania, the political manipulation of history, nationalism, and societies during crisis periods.

Dr. Dumitru was awarded prestigious fellowships, as Gerda Henkel Stiftung’s Special Program to Support the Next Generations of Historians in Russia, the Ukraine, Moldova, and Byelorussia (2007-2008); Rosenzweig Family Fellowship for research at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from Washington D.C. (2005-2006); research fellowship at the International Institute for Holocaust Research, Yad Vashem (207). Diana Dumitru authored over twenty articles and is writing her book entitled “The Romanian Holocaust: Bringing the Local Population into the Story”.

A reception will follow