Holocaust Museum Urges Romania To Withdraw Racist Coin

By:
Gina Gomez

3/7/2010

Bucharest, Romania, Aug 3, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The central bank of Romania has sparked controversy after it issued a special coin in remembrance of a former prime minister and a religious leader who is known for his anti-Semitic beliefs and was instrumental in taking away the citizenship of as many as 225,000 Jews. The decision of the central bank of the country to commemorate the church leader has come as a rude shock to Romanian Jews who showcased their protests on Monday and demanded that the financial institution withdraws the circulation of the controversial coin.

The latest move by the central bank in Romania has also attracted the ire of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum which has also expressed its astonishment about the decision of issuing coins depicting late Patriarch Miron Cristea, who was the leader of the Romanian Orthodox Church between the years 1925 to 1939. Radu Ioanid, who is the director of the museum and also looks after its international archives have revealed to the media that the decision of the bank has left him ’shocked’ as Patriarch Miron Cristea, who also held the position of the Prime Minister of Romania, played a pivotal role in revising the citizenship laws due to which 37 per cent of the Jewish population of the country were stripped of their citizenship. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum director also stated that he has made a written application to National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu urging for the withdrawal of the coin.

Meanwhile, Mugur Stet, a spokesperson of the National Bank of Romania has divulged that the coin was not dedicated to just Patriarch Miron Cristea but was actually a part of a series of coins commemorating the country’s five patriarch who have led the Romanian Orthodox Church since 1925.

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