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The event marked 85 years since the mass killing of thousands of Jews in Iași and the surrounding area between June 28 and July 6, 1941.
By Shula Rosen
President Isaac Herzog visited Romania on Sunday to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Iași pogrom, urging continued efforts to preserve Holocaust memory and warning that rising antisemitism poses a threat beyond the Jewish community.
Herzog spoke at a state ceremony at the Iași Jewish Cemetery attended by representatives of the Romanian government, the leadership of the city of Iași, and the local Jewish community.
The event marked 85 years since the mass killing of thousands of Jews in Iași and the surrounding area between June 28 and July 6, 1941.
The ceremony began with the recitation of Kaddish by the chief rabbi of Romania, Rabbi Rafael Shaffer. Herzog later joined a reburial ceremony for the remains of 22 victims of the pogrom who were recently identified.
Addressing the gathering, Herzog said remembrance alone cannot reverse the crimes committed during the Holocaust.
“This act of remembrance for the many thousands of Jewish women, men, children, and elderly murdered on this soil, in Iași and its surroundings between June 28 and July 6, 1941, does not erase the suffering of the victims,” he said. “Nor does it lessen the ethical stain of the perpetrators.”
Herzog said the massacre demonstrated how ordinary members of society became participants in atrocities, citing the writings of Romanian-born Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. Quoting Wiesel’s account of the pogrom, Herzog recalled: “From the simple soldier to the high-ranking officer; from the anonymous employee to the official invested with the high and implacable authority of the state, the Jews of Iași could not expect any trace of compassion or humanity.”
He called for Holocaust education to remain a priority, saying future generations should learn about the events in Iași and visit the site so the history is not forgotten.
Herzog also highlighted the longstanding connection between Romanian Jewry and Israel, noting that Naftali Herz Imber drafted the first version of what became Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah,” in Iași and that Romanian Jews founded some of the earliest Jewish communities in Israel, including Rosh Pina in 1882.
Warning that antisemitism was once again gaining ground in parts of Europe, Herzog said, “This is a danger for Jews, this is a danger for all people of goodwill.”
He thanked Iași Mayor Mihai Chirica, as well as Romania’s president, parliament, senate, and government, for their efforts to preserve Holocaust memory and combat antisemitism. Herzog said he would address the Romanian parliament in Bucharest on Monday to recognize the friendship between the two countries while looking toward their shared future.
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