Romanian Neo-Nazis And Ultranationalists Harshly Criticize Holocaust Course For High Schoolers: Part II

In 2023, the "History of the Jews. The Holocaust" course was introduced into the curriculum for Romanian high school students as a compulsory subject. The course was designed to teach students "the history of the Jews and the tragic events of the middle of the last century, but also develop humanistic values and tolerance, i.e., attitudes specific to democratic citizenship, which should be formed and strengthened during the secondary school years," according to then-Minister of Education Ligia Deca. Almost immediately after the introduction of the discipline, ultranationalists, neo-Nazis, fascists, and antisemites leaped online to voice their opposition, asserting on social media that Romania was "no longer Romanian" and was being "led by foreigners." Some posts encouraged people to "seek the truth" about the Holocaust for themselves, while others accused the Jews of pulling the strings of Romania's notorious communist regime. The MEMRI DTTM released an extensive report on the course, and reactions to it, in 2023.

However, the divisive discourse surrounding the subject did not end that year. Online chatter continued throughout 2025, as textbooks for the course were published and false rumors about "History of the Jews. The Holocaust" were spread by media outlets. The following report will provide an up-to-date analysis on the reactions of Romania's extreme right to the Holocaust course.

YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST. 

In early February 2025, a news outlet reported that the Ministry of Education had approved five textbooks for 11th and 12th graders concerning Jewish history and the Holocaust. Prior to the books' approval, according to the article, teachers had been teaching the subject based "solely on the curriculum."

In a February 2 article, a neo-Legionary news outlet published an article titled, "What will students in Romania learn during the 'History of the Jews. The Holocaust' class?" The article notes that many young Romanians lack knowledge of Romanian history; the piece questions whether learning about the Holocaust is beneficial. It also laments that Romanians are not allowed to investigate the Holocaust for themselves, as "anyone who dares to contradict the official version [...] is liable to [face] years in prison."

The article reads: "[...] 'History of the Jews. The Holocaust' [...] began to be taught as a requirement starting from last school year [...] Students in Romania will learn about the history of the Jews while being deficient in the history of Romania. A week ago, on January 24th, we celebrated 166 years since the Union of the Romanian Principalities in 1859, an extremely important date in Romania's history. However, many young Romanians have no idea when it took place [...] But from now on, they will be required to learn about Jewish history, particularly the Holocaust. The article in Adevărul tells us that 'stimulating critical thinking and establishing connections with other tragic events are objectives that the experts wanted to achieve through the proposed curriculum.' Stimulating critical thinking? This objective is impossible to achieve since in Romania, any deviation from the official version is punishable by law [...]"

Various extremist ultranationalist and antisemitic users reacted to the news.

Commenting under the post, a user wrote: "It should have been written like this: History of the Jews, the bloodiest and most criminal race on earth. A race of Satanists, who enslaved and slaughtered millions of Christians."

Facebook users also protested the new textbooks. In a February 12 post, a usershared a photo of a page in a "History of the Jews. The Holocaust" textbook, which contains several quotes from Holocaust survivors about the horrors they endured. "Luciferian" wrote: "The exercises in the 'History of the Jews' textbook are the most shameless attempt at propaganda..."

YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO THE MEMRI DOMESTIC TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR (DTTM) TO READ THE FULL REPORT. GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA CAN REQUEST A COPY BY WRITING TO DTTMSUBS@MEMRI.ORG WITH THE REPORT TITLE IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE INCLUDE FULL ORGANIZATIONAL DETAILS AND AN OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR REQUEST. NOTE: WE ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A COPY ONLY TO MEMBERS OF GOVERNMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MEDIA, AND ACADEMIA, AND TO SUBSCRIBERS; IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE CRITERIA PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST.