“Is the extremists' assault on public memory uninhibited and beyond the law?”. Elie Wiesel Institute Warning
A sympathizer of the Legionary Movement makes the Nazi salute at the commemoration in Tâncăbești on November 30, 2025 Photo: Laurențiu Ungureanu/ HotNews
The National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania “Elie Wiesel” draws attention to the fact that “the firm commitments of the authorities, made at moments and commemorative events dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to combat anti-Semitism, hate speech and praise of extremist ideologies continue to remain simple statements, without an echo for those who have the duty to apply the law”. The reaction comes after the commemoration organized by supporters of the Legionary Movement in Tâncăbeşti forest, which HotNews reported from the scene.
The “Elie Wiesel” Institute requests the intervention of the Ministry of the Interior after on Sunday, November 30, dozens of people commemorated the 87th anniversary of the death of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, in the forest where the former legionnaire leader was assassinated. The HotNews reporters were in the Tâncăbeşti Forest, where the parade was organized, and reported that one of the participants gave the Nazi salute in front of the reconstructed troika of the “Captain”.
Five special police vehicles and five of the Gendarmerie were present at the event in the Tâncăbeşti forest, but the authorities did not intervene in the commemoration of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.
PHOTO/VIDEO How the sympathizers of the Legionary Movement commemorated 87 years since the death of Zelea Codreanu: “Why shouldn't it be allowed? Gendarmes, policemen, no one told us anything. We found out from TikTok”
“Is the extremists' assault on public memory uninhibited and beyond the law?”
“As can be seen from the filmed images, there were no lack of legionary rituals or the Nazi salute. GEO No. 31/2002 has re-entered a shadow cone of justice, and the extremists' assault on public memory is uninhibited and beyond the law? Or maybe, as they have been trying to suggest to us for some time, social balance and stability means the right to full expression for the symbolism and manifestations of the extreme right?”, says the “Elie” Institute Wiesel,” in an open letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The firm commitments of the authorities, made at moments and commemorative events dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, to combat anti-Semitism, hate speech and the praise of extremist ideologies continue to remain simple statements, without an echo for those who have the duty to apply the law”, say the representatives of the “Elie Wiesel” Institute.
In a post on Facebook, the “Elie Wiesel” Institute notes that “pro-legionary manifestations, the cult of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu” take place under the protective wing of the gendarmes”. The photo illustrating the post is part of the photo gallery that accompanies the HotNews report.
The commemoration in the Tâncăbeşti forest takes place annually, since 1994, in the place where Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and 14 other legionnaires were assassinated on the night of November 29-30, 1938. Although such demonstrations have been prohibited by law since 2002, they have continued.
In 2024, the demonstration attracted public attention after Scena9 reported that approximately 70 people gathered in Tâncăbeşti, under the gaze of the Gendarmerie and the Police, for the commemoration that included the religious service, legionary songs and the Nazi salute, prohibited by law. Following the demonstration, the Prosecutor's Office of the Ilfov Court made nine house searches and placed 7 of the participants under judicial control. Among those searched was the photojournalist Andrei Pungovschi, who immortalized some of the moments.
