Simon Wiesenthal Center Snider Social Action Institute Sua yiwnw tD79 q ans ET TH Israel Office: now. Denn 1 Mendele Street Jerusalem 92147 92147 own 1 an Tel: (02) 563.1273/4/5_ Fax: (02) 563.1276 02.563.1276 :o79 02.563.1274/5 “v0, Or. Efraim Zuroff, Director mn ,qnir OOK VT Israel office and Eastern European Affairs Rabi Marvin Hier, Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean Rabbi Meyer H, May, Executive Director 9.23 April 16, 2023 HLE. President Maia Sandu ‘154 Stefan cel Mare si Sfant Bd. Chisinau, MD 2073 Republic of Moldova By email Dear President Sandu, thas come to our attention that unfortunately several monuments have been built in Moldova which honor notorious anti-Semites and commemorate events which led to the mass murder of Romanian Jews In Chisinau for example, in the Alley of Classies in Stephan The Great Central Park, a statue (bust) was recently unveiled of former Romanian Prime Minister Octavian Goga. Goga who was Prime Minister of Romania prior to World War Il, was a notorious anti -Semite who enacted laws stripping one third of Romanian Jewry of their citizenship and was the co-founder of the National Christian Party, which had a swastika on its logo and engaged in ant-Semitic violence. In an interview to the New York Times, he justified his anti Semitic policies by saying that his country "had far too many Jews". A little more than a year ago, a bust of Goga in Iasi, Romania was removed by the government for the above reasons, ‘A second monument which is extremely offensive and insulting is located in Valea Morilor Park as part of a larger memorial, partially funded by the Romanian government to commemorate the “liberation” of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina by the Romanian Army. But that Romanian "victory" led to the mass murder of 150,000 Bessarabian Jews within one month and the subsequent ghettoization of the remaining Jews, which had lethal consequences. In 1939, Bessarabia had 205,000 Jews and in May 1942, only 227 Jews remained alive, e-mail: swcjerus@netvision.net.il httos://sweierusalem.o International Headquarters: 1399 South Roxbury Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90035Simon Wiesenthal Center Snider Social Action Institute Sua ppnow to q evans meron) are re Israel office: ‘news Tenn 1 Mendele Street Jerusalem 92147 92147 pwn 1 on ‘Mm Tel (02) 563.1273/4/5. Fax: (02) 563.1276 02.563.1276 :079 02.563.1274/5 “v0 Dr. Efraim Zuroff, Director aan ,qnit Ox IT Israel office and Eastern European Affairs Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean Rabbi Meyer H. May, Executive Ditector Dear President Sandu, we are well aware of your respect and friendship for Moldova's Jewish ‘community, which we greatly appreciate and hope that you will take the necessary steps to correct, this shameful and painful situation in the near future. Sincerely yours, Director, Simon Wiesenthal Center — Israel Office and Eastern European affairs ‘e-mall: swejerus@netvision.netil httos://sweierusalem.or International Headquarters: 1399 South Roxbury Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90035