Product Description
This book assesses the interplay and conflict between nationalism and communism in the formulation and execution of Romanian domestic and foreign policy. Dr Gilberg traces the roots of nationalism in Romanian history and examines the extent to which strands from the political, military, and literary legacy of the pre-communist era have been woven into the political fabric of contremporary Romania. He also examines the importance of Marxist-Leninist doctrine in establishing the country's political system after World War II, discussing the idiosyncracies that typify the Romanian version of Marxism-Leninism. Investigating the policies and programmes, successes and failures of communism in practice, Dr Gilberg concludes that Romania's political system represented a mix of traditional Romanian nationalism, orthodox communist ideology, and the attitudes and values of the Ceausescu clan - particularly those of Nicolae Ceausescu. The mix was unique, but at the same time contained elements that were common to all communist sytems in Eastern Europe. It also contained within itself the elements that led to the downfall of the Ceausescu regime.The author assesses the interplay of these elements and their culminations in the dramatic events of December 1989. The downfall of Romania's form of national communism has international implications, creating potential instability in an important part of the world. Both the Soviet Union and the West will be pressed to assess their relationship with Romania's new leadership and the ramifications of an evolving socio-economic and political order. ... Read more

Product Description
The volume provides a comprehensive, yet brief, analysisof the historic evolution of Romanian history and civilization fromthe first century BC to the present. Its principal attraction toreaders is the conceptual and analytical approach designed to providean intelligent, yet scholarly, overview of Romanian history, and aclear understanding of the problems facing the country, rooted in thathistory, in the post-communist period of transition of the 1990s and,most likely, also in the new millennium. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Who are the Romanians?
I recently found myself asking this question, so I got this book out of my University library to find out. What I found was a concise and informative survey of an intriguing people. I learned how the Romanians are a "Latin people among the Slavs." That is to say that they are a people descended from the Romans, (at least partially) surrounded by Slavic countries. The original inhabitants of what is now Romania were the Geto-Dacians, a subset of the Thracians. Conquered by the Romans in 106 AD, the Geto-Dacians were Romanized, with many Romans actually settling and inter-mingling with the indigenous people. After the Roman empire collapsed and this province was cut off from Rome, these people were permanently assimilated and eventually grew into a distinct people known as the Romanians. Then in the 6th and 7th centuries, certain Slavic tribes invaded parts of Romania and left their mark as well.

The author then takes us all through the Middle Ages, the Enlightment and up to the end of the 20th century. We learn about the reforms and revolutions of the 19th century and their 20th century experiences with fascism and socialism. Although it is concise, it is also quite detailed, describing the Romanian's culture, religion, political structures, etc.It is written in very clear and accessible language which makes it an easy read. I would definitely consider this a good introduction to Romania. ... Read more

Product Description

This book describes the attempt in post-Communist Hungary to distort and denigrate the Holocaust, often by respectable public figures such as intellectuals, members of parliment and influential government and party figu. Such figures appear resolved to explain and justify Hungary's linkage to Nazi Germany, rehabilitate the Horthy regime, and absolve the country of any responsibility for the destruction of approximately 550,000 of its citizens of the Jewish faith or heritage.

Customer Reviews (1)

the holocaust----it's just not the nazis anymore
Arrow Cross, Admiral Horthy, SS-Colonel Adolph Eichmann, and other
symbols of the Holocaust of World War Two, were though by many to be the
part of the bygone era of the Nazi Holocaust.

Well----History repeated itself in the post World War Two era, where
Jews, Gypsies, Csango-Hungarians in Romania, and even German expellees
from eastern Europe, were an still are, the victims of persecution.
Even in the post-communist era starting in 1989.

In Hungary and even more so in Romania, Historical and Political "amnesia"
about anti-semitism, in the past, AND the present, leaves any real hope
of the exposure of anti-Jewish history and attitudes in the dark.
As the great and lateHistorian George Santayana once said
"history has a tragic way of repeating itself".

Even in the post-communist era of greater freedom and democracy, many
anti-semitic attitudes have re-appeared, even in the form of anti-
Jewish hate crimes in both Hungary and Romania.
Accordingly;
The book or treatise by Randolph Braham, 'The Treatment of the
Holocaust in Hungary and Romania During the Post-Communist Era'
is an excellent buy, because of it's most excellent historiography.
So buy it!!

Also, this book should be an excellent curriculum resource, as it skips
"spin doctors", and only concentrates on the TRUTH.
Hungary and Romania are exposed for their not-so-latent prejudices
that the communist-era of 1947-through-1989 could not stamp out.
Hungary's and Romania's academia are both a failure, as it's
"lets-sweep-it-under-the rug" time.

The Holocaust of World War Two will not go away as "past history".
The shallow treatment of the Holocaust, by the attitudes of Bucharest
and Budapest, has been exposed by Professor Braham, so again, buy
his most excellent book.
Professor Braham is my kind of of Historical Writer, so buy his book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first book to examine Romanian history within it's broader international context. Written by the field's leading scholars, these twenty studies examine a wide range of issues from antiquity to the present and cover both national and international issues, including the role of ethnic minorities within Romania's historic evolution. The editors provide a historic perspective for understanding the phenomena of post-communist Romania's transition from totalitarianism to democracy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a must
A necessary book for a better understanding of the complex history of the Balcans. The fact that the book is written by well known historians just adds to the value. ... Read more

Product Description

This books deals with the grave, some insurmountable, difficulties encountered by the Romanian state in the period from 1939-1941. Occupying a strategic position and rich in economic resources, Romania was caught between the ambitions of the German Reich and the Soviet Union. An agreement reached between these two powers in 1939 caused Romaina to lose territories to her neighbors in the east, west and south; their disagreement a year later, together with the German promise of recovering such lost territories in the east and west that compelled Romania to join the Axis powers in their military campaign conducted in 1941 against the Soviet Union.

Customer Reviews (1)

OK but not exactly what I was looking for
While the book was good, it served only to provide background information for what I really needed. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces students and the general public to the post-Stalinist phase of totalitarianism, focusing on Romania under the Ceausescu dictatorship, through the dual optic of scholarship and fiction, in a story about a family surviving difficult times under a totalitarian regime due to the strength of their love. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Beautiful
Like the cover this book was beautiful. The author does a good job of putting the reader into the room. Good job Claudia and keep up the good work.

Lovely Book!
This beautifully told story of a family's struggle to stay together is very moving. Interwoven with the narrative is an intrigue between a secret service operative for and a woman forced to trade her body in exchange for the welfare of those she loves. It's a complicated, beautiful story which sheds light on an oppressive regime. Before reading this book, I was totally unaware of the human rights oppression committed against the people of Romania. Throughthis lovely story of a family's struggle, I saw a daily life in all its joy and horror. Well written and extremely moving.

Vivid Portrayal
Claudia Moscovici creates a vivid portrayal of the lives of ordinary people living in totalitarian Romania.

Captivating novel
Claudia Moscovici's first novel treats the intersection of politics and family, transporting us deftly in time and space.Depth of knowledge--and experience--is felt on each page as conflict, struggle and spirit come alive through Moscovici's engaging prose.Highly recommended!

An enjoyable comic epic
Velvet Totalitarianism could be best described as a comic epic. This enjoyable novel tells the story of a family struggling to survive the repression of communist Romania during the Ceausescu regime.It has the ambitious range and tragic elements of an epic, while also being filled with touching anecdotes and humor: the laughter through tears kind that Eastern European writers are known for.This novel has it all. It's a story of survival that will move you, entertain you and inform you. ... Read more

Product Description

The Carpatho-Rusyns are central European people, numbering approximately 1.2 million, who live within the borders of five states: Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, and Hungary. They have never had a state of their own. Disregarded and suppressed by most governments that ruled over them in the past, the Rusyn people have had to fight to retain their identity, culture, and language. This work is an attempt to redress the loss of historical memory and knowledge caused by decades of repression by investigating and explaining the historical past and culture of Rusyns in all countries where they live, including immigrant communities in the United States, Canada, and Yugoslavia.

The encyclopedia contains over 1,100 alphabetically arranged entries in areas such as individuals, organizations, political parties, periodicals, historical terms, geographic regions, historical events, and on themes such as architecture, archaeology, cinema, communism, ethnography, geneaology, geography and economy, historiography, history, the internet, language, literature, nationalism, printing and publishing, and radio and television. The first encyclopedic work on Rusyns to appear in English, this book has laready proven to be an indispensable resource for European and Slavic studies specialists, and for general readers interested in international relations and nationalism.

The Revised and Expanded Edition has been fully updated: New data and references have been provided for most existing entries ans many entirely new entries have been added.

Customer Reviews (2)

A period of history that is still shaping today's world
Not for the casual reader, but a superb book, nonetheless.This book offers invaluable insight into the relations between Romania and the major players of the second world war, Germany, Britain, the U.S., and most significantly, Russia.Although the latter chapters do get bogged down by statistics, the book describes very well Romania's perception of a just war, its subsequent desperation and isolation, and the closed door politics of the allies.The strength of the book lies in its description of the brutal but very thorough usurption of power by the Soviet Union through the Red Army.

A superb contribution to Cold War era Romanian history.
This is the first truly comprehensive and objective study of the Russianarmy's military control of Romanian territory during the years 1940 to1941, and its occupation of the country from 1945 to 1958. The Red Army InRomania draws from archival sources as the authors discuss the geopoliticaland historical conditions that enabled the Russians to occupy Romania, theconsequences of the occupation for the country (especially on the politicallife of the citizenry), and the establishment of a totalitarian Communistregime. The authors also deal with the consequences of the Red Army'sstationing on Romanian territory, its impact on the evolution of socialrelations in the country, and the opposition of romanian society to themilitary occupation. Detailed attention is given to the economic aspects ofthe occupation . The Red Army In Romania is very highly recommended forstudents of Cold War Romanian history and European focused internationalstudies ... Read more

Product Description
The political hypocrisy and personal horrors of one of the most repressive anti-abortion regimes in history came to the world's attention soon after the fall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Photographs of orphans with vacant eyes, sad faces, and wasted bodies circled the globe, as did alarming maternal mortality statistics and heart-breaking details of a devastating infant AIDS epidemic. Gail Kligman's chilling ethnography--of the state and of the politics of reproduction--is the first in-depth examination of this extreme case of political intervention into the most intimate aspects of everyday life.
Ceausescu's reproductive policies, among which the banning of abortion was central, affected the physical and emotional well-being not only of individual men, women, children, and families but also of society as a whole. Sexuality, intimacy, and fertility control were fraught with fear, which permeated daily life and took a heavy moral toll as lying and dissimulation transformed both individuals and the state. This powerful study is based on moving interviews with women and physicians as well as on documentary and archival material. In addition to discussing the social implications and human costs of restrictive reproductive legislation, Kligman explores the means by which reproductive issues become embedded in national and international agendas. She concludes with a review of the lessons the rest of the world can learn from Romania's tragic experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Interesting Personal Stories
This book speaks of the heartaches of scores of women due to a misguided 1966 Decree that was meant to create a new generation of socialists by removing birth control from the options available to the people. Although this is a book about women and their special struggles, as a man I found it interesting. My wife is Romanian and can corroborate many of the stories of these women to be true (or at least reasonable). But I'm also grateful that Gail Kligman didn't dwell on the sensationalism that the popular Western press loved to print following the Decree. In fact, she denies much of the fanciful stuff written to sell newspapers. There weren't masses of perverted bosses standing there watching gynecological exams. But the author does stress the heart-wrenching, personal stories of women who were forced to deal with this foolish Decree 770, many times to the detriment of their health or life.

It could happen again
Although this is a book about a specific place during a specific period, what makes it so chilling is how it describes a descent of little steps into a nightmare world.For those who may even have lived through it thinking "it wasn't that bad," this book provides the opportunity to take a step back and realize "it was worse than we even imagined."Ms. Kligman's account is clarion call for the importance of taking a stand in every society in order to preserve the values we hold dear, but which are in fact as fragile as the weakest among us.

Vai, Alexandru, n-a fost atat de rau!
I'm an American woman living and working in Romania, and I have to disagree with Alexandru.From all I hear from my friends both male and female, this book isn't off-target at all.It IS true that many people sayCeasescu's policies didn't affect their lives "all that much",but the people who did have unwanted pregnancies or were harassed becausethey didn't have enough children were and are real people.I enjoyed thisbook and would recommend it to anyone interested in reproductive issues --in either Romania or the U.S.

Unprofessionally written, innacurate statistics
None ofthedata are believable! The statistics are made up and it lacks objectivity as if written by an emotional and nervous wreck. Originally from Romania, I can testify that data on births and abortion could not andcannot yet be obtained, also the reasoning behind data is consequentlyfalse. It is a collection offalse assumption. Too bad something like this(of substandard quality) has been published!

Unprofessionally written, innacurate statistics
None ofthedata are believable! The statistics are made up and it lacks objectivity as if written by an emotional and nervous wreck. Originally from Romania, I can testify that data on births and abortion could not andcannot yet be obtained, also the reasoning behind data is consequentlyfalse. It is a collection offalse assumption. Too bad something like this(of substandard quality) has been published! ... Read more

Product Description
Radu Ioanid's account of the Holocaust in Romania, based upon privileged access to secret East European government archives, is an unprecedented analysis of heretofore purposely hidden materials. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Holocaust in Romania.
I actually thought about giving this book a three star, not for any disbelief in what the author wrote but due to the dry nature of some parts of this book.The Antonescu regime in Romania was a murderous fascist dictatorship who killed 300,000 Romanian Jews and Gypsies.They helped invade Russia and killed Jews there as well.The author does a great job of reviewing Romania's relations with minorities such as Jews and the nature of anti-Semiticism in this country.However, the reading at times is so dry.The stories are depressingly familiar about the killing and famine of Jews.

One thing that really distinguishes the Holocaust in Romania from elsewhere is how the bumbling Romanians did not throughly organize the killings as the Germans did.Some Romanians plundered the Jews, others helped them, and many stood back.There was no organized factories of death.In fact, the Romanians deported many Jews beyond the River Bug so that the Germans did the dirty work. Thus, a quarter million Jews lived due the bureaucracy of the Romanian government.That was good.With the turn of events on the Eastern Front, Antonescu decided not to organize the final solution.He however shares the blame for 300,000 deaths of Romanian and Russian Jews.

This is a chilling book about man's treatment of his fellow human beings.
The author puts together a tragic story of the treatment of Romanian Jews by the fascist Romanian government.

Thank goodness this is history, not current events!
Radu Ioanid, the author, has done an excellent job of presenting this shameful period of Romania's history. Not only has he documented many of the brutal acts against the Jews, but also gives many of the names of the leaders who signed memos and other documents to initiate and continue the holocaust in Romania ... to those leaders' eternal shame.

As the author notes, the Romanian Holocaust was different than the German Holocaust. The Germans conducted their horrible "solution to the Jewish problem" like a business ... organized, efficient, brutal. The Romanians, on the other hand, conducted their horrible "solution" in total chaos. It's a wonder that the author was able to make any sense out of the thousands of senseless acts.

It's a very difficult book to read ... because I found myself continually stopping to shudder as I read about more and more atrocities committed against the Jews - simply because they were Jews - and the Gypsies during the Romanian Holocaust. And every time I thought to myself, they can't possibly be any more cruel or heartless than this ... I'd turn the page and find that yes, they can.

What would possess an otherwise ordinary person to pick up a steel bar and slam it into a human face? What kind of person bludgeons, stabs, or shoots a defenseless human? Who would cut off fingers or ears to steal jewelry or slice open someone's cheek to steal the gold from their teeth? What kind of person can sleep at night after raping a mother clutching her child, then shooting her and listening to her child scream as the mother falls into a mass grave where the child is buried alive?

The people who did these (and many other) horrible things were regular people, neighbors of the Jews they robbed and murdered. These neighbors were the ones who left corpses strewn along the deportation routes so that the Jews who followed saw what was in store for them.

Like I said, it was hard to read this book without shedding a tear for the thousands of innocent victims of this chaotic holocaust. But if you're at all interested in Romania during the time leading up to and during World War II ... and especially the insensitivity of Ion Antonescu (Romania's fascist leader) and Mihai Antonescu (sometimes prime minister) ... you must read this book.

And then, after reading it, you should be thankful that this is Romania's past. The present-day people of Romania are not the same as these neighbors were. But, at the same time, you have to recognize that there still are some Romanian leaders who want to erect statues of Ion Antonescu ... despite the fact that he was the one ultimately responsible for unleashing this holocaust. The blood of thousands upon thousands is on his hands.

A Compelling New History Based on New Documentation
Area studies may be the next area of creativity and productivity in Holocaust studies. Raul Hilberg has written on the whole -- masterfully, brilliantly and enduringly. Leni Yahil, Lucy Dawidowicz, Martin Gilbert andothers have also written on the whole offering differing perspectives butattempting to grasp the whole. The next generation may, of necessity, bemore restricted and more restrained in their writing. More documents areavailable and thus more can be known of each specific area of study, ofvictim groups, of regions. Many younger scholars do not have the mastery oflanguages that was common to their elders, most especially to the EasternEuropean Jews who mastered several languages before they left home.

RaduIoanid is an excellent example of the promise of area studies. A Romaniannative, he has written of the Holocaust in Romania. This work, originallywritten in French, is translated into English because of the generosity andcommitment of the Holocaust Memorial Museum and its determination to make astudy of Romanian Jewry available. It has assisted in the publication oftwo works on Hungarian Jewry including an important condensation ofRandolph Braham masterful study of The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaustin Hungary.

Ioanid's work has many virtues. It is detailed and precise.His mastery of the material is evident throughout. His interpretations aresound, his methods are clear. Perhaps the two most important virtues of thework are that it is virtually without competition for Ioanid has reviewedand reported on new documentation that has hitherto been virtuallyunavailable for anyone to see. Too little has been published in the Englishlanguage regarding the fate of Romanian Jewry. It is a story worth tellingbecause it does not fit into the general pattern of destruction. Romaniawas allied with Germany. Some of its population and a large part of itsJewish population - the Jews of Northern Transnistria -- was given toHungary by Germany in 1940, and thus its Jews remained relatively untouchedby the "Final Solution" until the fateful days following the Germaninvasion of Hungary in March 1944. Between May 15th and July 8th 437,402Jews were transported to Auschwitz on 148 trains. Though originallyRomanian - Elie Wiesel among them - their fate is regarded as an essentialpart of the Hungarian story, not the Romanian one.

The shape of Ioanid'schapters tell much of the Romanian story: Massacres at the Beginning of theWar, Transit camps, Deportations and Other Mass Murders, Massacres inTransnistia, Life in Transnistria, the Survival of Romanian Jews. Whatscholars have long known but few non-professionals realize - and whatIoanid documents in precise detail -- is that for the most part Romania didnot rely upon German assistance or initiatives to solve its own Jewishproblem. They "took care" of their own Jews, mimicking some of the Germanformats, but in essence avoided the unique German creation of the deathcamps, instead transporting the Jews to Transnistria. Romania was notnecessarily less ruthless to its Jews than the Germans, only significantlyless disciplined and methodical, less technologically inventive. Those notmurdered by Romanian troops, or those who did not die along the way, livedunder such harsh conditions that their chances of survival were imperileduntil Romanian adjusted its policy to the new reality that Germany wascertain to lose the war. They then presumed that there was more value inliving Jews than dead Jews. Living Jews could be exchanged for money orpolitical advantage. Dead Jews were of little value, except for the factthat the land was Judenreinfor unlike the Germans, Romania did notrecycle Jewish bodies.

Along the way, the Romanians initiated pogroms,such as the one in Iasi. Romanian troops participated in the Einsatzgruppenmurders along with SS troops, In Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and southernUkraine - the most prominent murder sites were Bogdanovka, Dumanovka andAcmicetcka and of course Odessa.. They deported Jews from their homes incattle cars, copying the German deportations of Jews from ghettos to deathcamps, but the Romanians did not have death camps at the end of the journeyof these Jews. Thus, they were held captive in these trains without food orwater in unlivable conditions until they died, and were then buried in massgraves along the railroad tracks. The majority of the Jews were deported toTransnistria, where they were held captive until they died. More than150,000 Jews died there. And the Jews in old Romania were held for a ransomthat was not forthcoming - until many years after the Holocaust when theJews of Romania were ransomed from Communist rule, in a story that is stilllargely untold.

Ioanid is not only plowing fresh land, describing thefate of Romanian Jews that is little understood, but he is also relying ondocuments that have only recently become available. One of the majorcontributions of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and itsrecently retired chairman Miles Lerman has been international agreements tocopy documents relating to the Holocaust in countries that were formerlybehind the Iron Curtain. Ioanid and the director of the Center for AdvancedHolocaust Studies Paul Shapiro were deeply involved in these efforts foralmost a decade and the fruits of their impressive labor are to be seen inthe collection of the Museum archives and in the benefit that scholars suchas Ioanid reap, from this newly available material. Only two scholars, RaduIoanid and Jean Ancel of Yad Vashem have spent the time reading this vastdocumentation and Ioanid's work shows the benefits of such detaileddocumentary research.

The timing of his work is also fortunate. Therehave been efforts by Romanian nationalists on the right, who were longsilenced by Communist rule, to rehabilitate the reputation of MarshallAntonescu, the Romanian ruler during the Holocaust. Monuments have beenerected and new words of praise have seen their way into print. Ioanid'swork will ensure that the full record of Antonescu will be known in theWest and the revisionist history will not be fueled by ignorance in theWest.

The Holocaust in Romania is difficult to read emotionally as ElieWiesel put it in his foreword because the behavior of the Romanians attheir own initiative without relying on the Germans marks an anguishedchapter in the history of the Holocaust. In Ioanid, the Jews of Romaniahave found a historian whose intellect matches his dedication to detail andhis passion to tell the truth that he uncovers.

An important contribution to Holocaust Studies.
This survey of the destruction of Jews and gypsies under the Antonescue regime from 1940-44 surveys a little-known era in Romanian history (indeed, much of the nation's history is little revealed to those outside thecountry). Chapters prove in depth a holocaust every bit as extensive as theGerman experience and reveals cruelty expressed on many levels in Romaniansociety. ... Read more