Member of European Parliament Denies Holocaust on National Television

A member of the European Parliament and leader of the nationalist Greater Romania Party has denied on national television that the Holocaust took place in Romania. Corneliu Vadim Tudor stated, while appearing on the Romanian Realitatea TV show last Thursday,  “In Romania there was never a Holocaust," adding, “I will deny it 'til I die because I love my people."

In a statement issued Monday, the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania expressed "outrage," adding that  "Vadim Tudor's words desecrated the memory of more than 280,000 Romanian Jews who perished in the Holocaust." 

The Institute now wants an investigation launched to determine whether Tudor has violated the law on hate speech, as well as a formal probe into why Realitatea TV gave Tudor a platform for expressing Holocaust denial.

Some members of the European Parliament are now calling for his resignation.

A similar incident with Romanian politician Dan Sova occurred in March, when he stated  that during the Holocaust, “no Jew suffered on Romanian territory," adding, “only 24 Romanian citizens of Jewish descent were killed” and this act was “carried out by German soldiers. Romanian soldiers were not involved in the action. This is a historical fact.” He later retracted his statements and is now the Romanian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.