Navigate to News section

Romania to Prosecute Holocaust Carolers

There’s a headline we weren’t quite ready for

by
Adam Chandler
December 12, 2013

As we reported earlier this week, viewers of televised choral Christmas tidings in Romania were treated to an unexpected (?) yuletide ditty last week that extolled the slaying of Jews in the Holocaust. When pressed for an explanation, the channel that aired the program assured everyone that they didn’t pick the offensive song. Instead, they explained that it had been selected by the Center for Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture–the name alone would have made George Orwell blush.

After some heated reactions, Romanian foreign minister Titus Corlatean, whose name too perfectly befits his title, sort of vowed that justice would be served…you know…eventually.

Titus Corlatean made the statement Thursday following an international uproar over the public broadcaster TVR3’s television transmission last week of a song by the Dor Transilvan ensemble celebrating the Holocaust.



“I publicly express my legitimate expectation that the relevant institutions, the National Audiovisual Council (CNA), the National Council against Discrimination (CNCD), the General Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the specialized committees of Parliament will take the necessary measures and investigate, punish and prevent” such situations, the foreign minister’s statement read.

Publicly express? Legitimate expectation? Relevant institutions? Specialized committees of Parliament?

This wasn’t a wardrobe malfunction, Titus. This was an ensemble performing a song celebrating the divine justice meted out by God against the Jews in the Holocaust, sung by a cast with fixed, beatific gazes including children, in what looks like an artist’s rendering of a Land’s End commercial, backed up not only by violin but by accordion! Pro-Holocaust accordion music! This is the song that the town drunk sings, not the whole city!

You’ve got to bring down the hammer stronger than that, Romania.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.