Wiesenthal Center criticizes continuing refusal by Wiesel Center to allow MCA Romania director to participate in Romanian national Holocaust ceremony

Jerusalem – The Simon Wiesenthal Center today criticized the continuing decision of the National Institute for Researching the RomanianHolocaust, often referred to as the Elie Wiesel Center, to prohibit the participation of Marco Katz, the director of MCA Romania, the Center for Monitoring and Combatting Anti-Semitism in theofficial government ceremony to mark Romanian Holocaust Memorial Day this past Friday, October 7.

The irony of this strange and highly insulting decision is that MCA was established in 2002, long before the Wiesel Center was founded, and was the organizationwhich promoted the erection of the national Holocaust monument in Bucharest, where the national government memorial ceremony has been held every year since its establishment in 2008. In addition,MCA played a role in the establishment of the Wiesel Center, by drawing international attention to highly problematic statements regarding anti-Semitism by Romanian government officials, andlater by Romanian President Iliescu.

According to the Center's Director of Eastern European Affairs, Holocaust historian Dr. Efraim Zuroff: "It is time toput an end to this shameful boycott of MCA director Marco Katz, whose uncle was one of the victims of the 1941 infamous pogrom in Bucharest by the Romanian Iron Guard. Both organizations havehelped Romania make significant progress in commemorating the Shoah and fighting against anti-Semitism, and the sooner they can cooperate, the better the situation regarding the important issuesfacing Romanian society can be solved."

For additional information please contact the Israel Office of the Wiesenthal Center: Tel: 972-2-563-1274 or Tel: 972-50-721-4156, follow the Center on Facebook,or @simonwiesenthal and @EZuroff for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the UnitedStates. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).