Reference Type: Journal Article
Author: Oișteanu, Andrei
Year: 2003
Title: Romanian Tolerance Toward The Jews Between Myth And Reality
Journal: Studia Hebraica
Issue: 3
Pages: 83-101
Language: English
Keywords: Jewish minority, history, tolerance, scholars, prosecution of war criminals, Hannah Arendt, interwar period, interethnic relationships
Abstract: (En) "It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Romania was the most antisemitic country in pre-war Europe," Hannah Arendt wrote in the early 1960s.1 I believe that this affirmation by the distinguished author is actually an exageration. However, we might grant Hannah Arendt certain extenuating circumstances. Bearing in mind that the book from which this statement was quoted was written on the basis of reports which she sent The New Yorker from Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem (1961-1962), the sentence reveals its marked "journalistic" intentions. Moreover, it is probable that Hannah Arendt was under the sway of powerful emotions, due to the evidence presented during the trial.